The Iron in Our Blood
by RyoshiMorino
Summary: The year is 325 P.D. and the fighting rages on as ghosts from the Calamity War start rising from their crypts, two pilots find themselves in a desperate situation to survive when the fighting forces them to crash-land on the desolate red planet.
1. War for Two Pt1 - Descent

_**Summary:**_ It's been 300 years since the last war, and the mechanical monsters known as Gundam fell into the history books. Unfortunately, war has a nasty habit of raising its head when people plead for peace. In such a situation a young girl inadvertently begins a war in hopes of ending a barbaric practice. And so begins the war between Earth's Gjallarhorn forces, and the Martian forces built up from Human Debris.

The year is 325 P.D. and the fighting rages on as ghosts from the Calamity War start rising from their crypts, two pilots find themselves in a desperate situation to survive when the fighting forces them to crash-land on the desolate red planet.

* * *

 _ **1: War for Two**_

 _ **Pt.1 - Descent**_

* * *

Orga Itsuka, Commander of the eighth Mobile Suit battalion, was not in the best of moods. Why? Because the battle to come was not going to be as simple as the Fleet Commander had assured him. The enemy fleet consisted of ten carrier vessels, which each carried, at the least, twenty-five mobile suits. Graze were the Earth's weapon of choice, as they were produced on planet, but that didn't make them any less formidable against inexperienced pilots.

 _{They're finally starting to take us seriously,}_ he thought as he drifted toward the hangars, { _It won't be long until they start using more unsavory tactics.}_ He sighed, growling as he recalled the last battle.

It hadn't been all that bad on their side. He and his _men _were more experienced in real combat than the Gjallarhorn forces really gave them credit for, being _Space Rats _and all. His hand went unconsciously to his _whisker_ located at the back of his neck. The _Alaya-Vjnana_ system was the reason he was fighting. The entire reason.

It was one of the few relics left over from the Calamity War; Gundams, Mobile Armor, and the horrible nano-implants that allowed people like him to pilot Mobile Suits to their full potential.

But having the system implanted wasn't always voluntary. Many of the pilots under his command, almost all of them, had had the system forced on them when they had been taken from their families by those that dealt in _Human Debris_. Orga and his brothers were among the best of the best in the fleet because of them.

"But," he said to himself, "because of that we're not really human anymore, are we?"

He drifted into the hangar, smiling as he saw one of his brothers, his favorite, as it happened, working on his own machine. Yet, another relic from the war. "Hey, Mika!" He called out as he kicked off the wall and flew toward him through the zero gravity.

The shorter boy looked at him with his usual small smile, "Orga," he said in greeting, "What are you doing down here so soon?" He asked, "I thought Kudelia was raking you over the coals again."

Orga chuckled, "And I'm still not trading my Shiden for one of those knock-off Gundams," he said, jerking his thumb at one of the machines. "I don't get how they can't just rebuild the original instead of trying to mass produce less powerful machines."

"Money's always been tight with Martians," Eugene said as the blond-haired boy floated down from above them, "What with Gjallarhorn giving the mining operations hell, it's a wonder we have anything to pay for these things with."

Orga cursed himself for forgetting. With the war waging, the spacial mining operations had come under attack by Gjallarhorn's forces. The ships that had been attacked were used to pull in and break down asteroids in search of precious metals such as gold, and silver, and sometimes platinum. His own forces had been partnered with one such mining company before Gjallarhorn had decided that Martians were getting too much freedom from the forces of Earth.

"And fixing up a Gundam from the Calamity War isn't cheap," the yellow-eyed teen frowned, scratching the back of his head as he surveyed the three true Gundams they had. Out of all the Mobile Suits, those three were the best of the best, and they had spared no expense in bringing them back up to full operating conditions.

Mikazuki piloted the Barbatos Lupus Rex, quite possibly the strongest out of the three, and it suited the young man to an extreme. The Gundam was damnably wild, and not to be taken lightly. So far, Mikazuki was the only one that could handle the feedback from the _Alaya-Vjnana_. Mikazuki had three of them implanted.

Next came the bulky, four-armed Gusion. The thing was a beast. Akihiro, a pilot in Orga's age-group, and had two whiskers, used that brutish Gundam extremely well whenever he was out.

Flauros was the last of their Gundams, and the only one capable of shifting into a different form.

Orga had to smile at the machine as his friend, Shino, had a strange obsession with the color pink, and a habit of painting all of the Mobile Suits, and Mobile Workers he piloted the very color.

The new machines resembled the Barbatos slightly, if only a little bit smaller. He turned his attention to the frame that was supposed to be his replacement machine. The GAT-X105 Strike Gundam was the first of two P.D. Gundam frames. It was a versatile machine that could be equipped with any number of armaments, and the Alaya-Vjnana system wasn't needed to pilot it. Meaning that those of his brothers that hadn't had the procedure done didn't need to. On the other hand, if someone piloting the machine did have whiskers, then the Strike had the system installed.

Across from the Strike hangar was the second new frame. Where the Strike was red, white and blue in the armor, the GAT-X103 Buster was mostly green, in different shades and some bits were orange. The best way he could describe this machine was that it was a sniper-type. All of the armaments it was issued were for long-range fighting.

"You should really trade up," Eugene said as he settled beside the pair, "If you don't take this one, we're gonna catch hell from Kudelia."

"And I'm the one she's gonna complain to when you keep the Shiden, _and_ give one of the Mobile Worker pilots another promotion, _and_ stick them with _your_ Gundam." Mikazuki said, frowning at his friend, making Eugene and Orga laugh, "It's not funny. Kudelia's been really stressed lately, especially with Atra being pregnant."

"I don't get it," a fourth member of Orga's family butted in, "How does a guy like Mikazuki land a babe like Kudelia, _and_ a fine cook like Atra?"

Mikazuki frowned at him, "Shino, you're not thinking about doing anything to them, are you?"

Shino raised his hands in a defensive manner, "Whoa there, Mika! I didn't mean it like that!" He laughed, "I'm just shocked is all. Atra I can understand, because she's been crushing on you for years, but Kudelia? How'd you manage that?"

Mikazuki shrugged, "I guess they think I'm cute."

" _Cute_?" Orga snickered.

"Yeah, like Snoopy." Mikazuki said, his face straight.

Eugene nearly burst out laughing, "Mika, Snoopy's _six_ inches taller than you are."

"My whiskers haven't stunted my growth _that_ much."

"Pfft, yeah, right." Shino grinned, "Hey, Eugene, fifty _Martian Credits_ says that _Atra's_ taller than Mika in a year!"

"I'll take that, and raise ya another fifty." Eugene grinned, laughing as Mikazuki scowled at both of them before reaching up and grabbing their ears, "Ow, ow, ow! Le'go, Mika!"

"You're rippin' it off!" Shino howled.

"Sorry, I can't hear you guys because I'm _so_ short your voices don't carry down here." Mikazuki said, earning a laugh out of Orga as the young man drifted away from them.

He shook his head and regarded the newest Strike, _his_ Strike, he reminded himself. "Well, at least it's mostly white," he sighed, reaching out to touch the blue cockpit armor. "I guess I could give it a trial run?"

"Good," said a cheerful voice from behind him. He turned and saw Maiden of Revolution herself drifting toward him, "I was about ready to try putting that old Shiden of yours in storage to get you to change machines."

Orga chuckled and stopped her as she drifted into him, "Now come on, Kudelia, I've never lost a fight ever since I set foot in the Shiden," he said, smirking at her with his right eye closed, "I've gotten a little attached to it."

Kudelia smiled at him in understanding, "I know, but still, the Gjallarhorn forces are getting better," she reminded him, referring to the last battle, "We lost some good friends because we didn't think that they had their own Gundams left over from the Calamity War."

Orga frowned, "Don't remind me," he growled, "And we never expected them to send out one of the Seven Stars against us so soon."

"They're still just using Graze as their primary Mobile Suits, but that Gundam is going to be a problem unless Mika, or Akihiro can do something about it." The blonde girl said, sighing as she looked around the hangar, "Orga, am I really doing the right thing?"

"Wha'd'ya mean?" Orga grumbled, frowning at the girl, "Mars was suffering a lot from Gjallarhorn, not just space rats like us, you know?" He said, sighing, "We've only just begun to revive the planet itself in order to make it more hospitable." He smiled, "It'll take time, but you, Atra, and Mika will get to have your little house with a garden, and a view."

Kudelia blushed slightly, "You should hear him talk about it," she smiled happily, "Orga, you're right. Even if I never wanted this to happen, we need to fight."

"And make sure the space rats go back into the history books," Orga smirked, looking down at his watch,"Hmm, crunch time." He pushed away from her, turning about and shouting, "Alright, guys, listen up!"

All eyes turned toward the young commander. "In about one hour, the Gjallarhorn forces will arrive, and so will that new Gundam frame," he shouted, "But just because the other side has a Gundam, or maybe even two or three as we do, the forces of Gjallarhorn don't have whiskers like us, and that means they can't fight as well in space.

"Is what I'd like to say," Orga continued, "But that was four months ago. This last year, all we've been fighting is a bunch of pencil pushers, and desk jockeys. Now, we're up against a Seven Star, maybe more. But Seven Star or not, these new forces are fresh, better trained, and don't give two shits about whether we're kids or not. They'll still kill us either way.

"But that doesn't mean we'll make it easy on them," Orga smiled cruelly, "Just like we did back in the CGS, we will take control of our lives again. But not just for us. For our homes, our families, and each other! Mars will be free of Gjallarhorn, but only when we've made it clear that we will fight to the last man, to the last breath to see it happen!"

"Brothers," Orga grinned as the others started grinning as well, all of them looking ready for a fight. "Time to go kick some ass!"

A deafening roar rose up in the hangar as Orga grinned, "Ride, I want you piloting a Strike in Akihiro's team, Shino, you take Hush out in a Buster. Mika, I want you to focus on that new enemy Gundam, take it down if you can. Call Akihiro for backup if you need it, or me for that matter. My team will be whittling down the Graze units, and then we'll be gunning for the transport ships. Are we clear?"

"YES, BOSS!"

"CALL ME SIR, DAMMIT!" Orga roared, "Tekkaden is the Martian army, for God's sake!"

* * *

(*)

* * *

Some distance away from the main Martian fleet, the forces of Gjallarhorn were steadily making their way toward the red planet. Many of the Mobile Suit pilots were young, and fresh out of training. Many others were from prestigious families such as the Elion, Kujan, Fareed, Issue and Bauduin families. Such families were considered to be the ranking officers of the Lunar fleet under the command of Rustal Elion, leader of the Seven Stars of Gjallarhorn.

Of course, for some, luck and skill had the pleasure of being present during the operation taking place. An assault on the Martian forces above the planet. One such member of the gifted was a young woman named Julieta Juris, an adopted member of the Elion family. Thanks to her skill inside of a Mobile Suit, she had been recommended to Rustal Elion by Galan Mossa, her friend and mentor for most of her life, and had risen through the lower ranks quickly to become a Mobile Suit pilot of the highest caliber.

Currently, the young woman was standing at her adoptive parent's side as he surveyed the mounting forces, "Lord Elion, do we really need such a large force for something like this?" The girl asked, frowning at the number of Graze, there were at least twenty, "Commander Coral's claims of this Martian fleet certainly must have some truth to them, but it can't all e true, can it?"

"Are you referring to the fact that the Martian fleet wiped out his unit with only two Mobile Suits, Gundams if the rumors are true," he said, stroking his beard, "Or the fact that those Martians are actively building their own war machines, and rebelling against Gjallarhorn?"

"Either or," she stated, frowning, "I can see them rebelling against Gjallarhorn, but wiping out a unit of Graze with only two machines of their own?"

Rustal chuckled, "My dear, if you've ever seen a Gundam in action, then you would know that they are no ordinary Mobile Suits." He said, "With the aid of the Bauduin's Gundam, we've been able to keep these Martians at bay long enough for us to gather a larger force to deal with them, and it's only thanks to Lord Bauduin and his men's sacrifice these passed four months that we've made certain that Coral's ravings were true." He sighed, "The Martians have _two_ Gundam frames. One of them is the White Demon, the Barbatos. The other one is the Gusion. From what I understand that frame was taken from a battle with the Brewers, a known dealership of Human Debris."

"He kidnapped children and made them go through the Alaya-Vjnana procedure," Julieta growled, clenching her fists. She herself had come dangerously close to becoming what people referred to as ' _space rats_ '. If it hadn't been for Galan, and Rustal, she'd most likely be some fat slob's pleasure girl, or a Martian Mobile Worker pilot. A damned good one, but a Mobile Worker pilot all the same. Piloting a Mobile Suite had changed her greatly, and nothing could compare with it anymore. She was at home inside the cockpit of a Graze.

"Precisely," Rustal said, agreeing with her statement, "That battle, I hear, was very bloody, but only the Brewers lost any men. The Gusion was barely damaged, but still, it took another Gundam to take it down."

Julieta looked up at him, "Do you think I could pilot one?"

"No!" Rustal growled out very quickly, and harshly, startling her. The man sighed, "Forgive me, my child, but to even think of piloting a Gundam frame, you need an Alaya-Vjnana system inside of you." He said, much to her growing disgust, "Calamity War relics such as Gundams all had such a system, but very few operated without one, Lord Bauduin's unit being one of the very few that the Seven Stars have. All of the others require it."

"Still," the girl muttered as one of the men drifted toward them. "Yes?"

"Ensign Amada, reporting, sirs," the man saluted, "I've just received word from Lord Bauduin, and Fareed," he held out a video pad, "During their last encounter with the Martian forces, it was noted that they had upgraded their Mobile Suit forces."

Rustal took the pad, frowning as he panned through the images, his eyes narrowing. "These can't be what I think they are?"

"No, sir," ensign Amada said, "These appear to be replicas, not true Gundams. Though some of them are indeed powerful, these new machines don't hold a candle to Calamity War frames. None of them have beam weapons, but they do have heavy firepower." He said, frowning, "And there also seems to be one more true Gundam among them. Ahab readings indicate that it was the Flauros, a long-range type that apparently has a double-barrel railgun mounted into the frame."

"Dammit," he scowled, handing the pad back, "Good work, ensign. Keep me informed of the situation. We'll be arriving in Mars space within the hour, so be ready to sortie at a moment's notice."

"Sir!" He saluted and floated away.

Julieta frowned, "Railguns are illegal."

"No, this one, unfortunately, falls into the grey area on that particular ban," Rustal frowned, "It does employ the same technology as a railgun, but it uses shells, almost like a bullet, save for the fact that they are several times more dangerous when fired from those canons." He shook his head, "That one is the first one that needs to be either captured or destroyed."

Julieta said nothing, knowing that if she volunteered to go after the Flauros, then he would most likely ground her from the battle, and she knew that she and every available pilot would be needed for the battle.

 **.**

Rustal frowned from the confines of his office while the three skipjack-class ships sped along. ' _Three Gundam frames against an army of sixty Graze._ ' He thought to himself, ' _If I were of the Calamity generation, I may have bet on the Gundams, but with the pilots I have under my command, I may have to hedge those bets._ ' His thoughts turned to Julieta, the girl being an amazing pilot with a natural spacial awareness that usually only came when fully connected to the machine.

' _Either way, this rebellion against Gjallarhorn must be put down, else the people of Earth may see us as obsolete,_ ' he continued, ' _Though if this continues any further, it has the possibility of becoming another Calamity War._ ' He thought reaching for his desk drawer, and pulling out a small bottle of pills. It was the Seven Stars' greatest privilege in allowing its members the gift of longevity. True, the eldest of them had only made it to little over two hundred years old, but ah, such a thing to see two centuries pass them by.

He had started taking the pills when he was thirty, just over seven years, and he had yet to see a decline in his health. Of course, he considered himself to be in his prime.

"Lord Elion?" One of his men came into the room, "We've reached Martian airspace."

"Good, is there any sign of fighting in the area?"

"None, yet, sir, but there are signs all over the place." He said, "Trashed Mobile Suits litter the space around the planet."

Rustal nodded, "I see." He said, placing the bottle back in his desk, "Have the pilots sortie, and send three of them out to scout the area. If they encounter the enemy forces, then they are to hale us their location, and retreat to the main force."

"Yes, Sir," the man said, bowing, "Also, we have received a hale from what appears to be an enemy unit. A one commander Orga Itsuka is asking to speak with the fleet's commanding officer."

"I see, very polite, these Martians," he said, "I'll address him at the bridge."

 **.**

What awaited the fleet commander was the image of a very young man, probably no older than Julieta at eighteen, scowling at him from the screen. Though young, he could already tell that this young white-haired man had seen his fair share of battle. The red uniform-like normal suit he wore had the tell-tale "Iron Flower" of Tekkadan stitched into the left side of the chest told him that this young man was more than likely not only a commanding officer in the Martian fleet, but also a member of the notorious former mercenary group.

"I understand that you wished to speak with me, Mister Itsuka, was it?" Rustal asked as the young man nodded, "What is it you wish to say?"

" _The same thing that I told the other Gjallarhorn soldiers that entered this territory,_ " Orga said, frowning deeply, " _As you are aware, you've entered Martian Union space. Therefore I am well within my limits to issue a warning that should you pose a threat to the Martian Union, and her people, then you will be considered hostile, and be dealt with as an enemy of Mars._ "

Rustal laughed out right at him, "That's some bold talk coming from a boy your age. I trust you have the bite to back up that bark?"

" _If your age hasn't made your eyes go bad, then you'll notice the graveyard in front of your ship is full of nothing but Gjallarhorn Graze,_ " Orga grinned back, " _All the people of Mars want is to govern themselves, Commander Elion. Is it so hard for your people to accept that? How many lives are you gonna sacrifice before you realize that all you have to do is leave us alone?_ "

"Gjallarhorn has many companies and assets in the Mars sphere, and as such we wish to protect our investments," the man said, frowning, "And why do you not realize that all you have to do to end all of this is to hand over Kudelia Aina Bernstein?"

Orga chuckled, smirking with his right eye closed, " _I guess the saying's true; you can't win against fools._ " He sighed, " _If it's a fight you want, it's a fight you'll get. Prepare your Mobile Suits, Gundam or Graze, it doesn't matter, we will fight to the last man, and to the last breath. Even if we meet our end, I can promise you that you won't forget this fight._ "

"So be it," Rustal nodded. The feed from the video was cut off, and the man smiled, "Prepare for battle."

* * *

(*)

* * *

Julieta frowned as she piloted through the mass of shredded metal and Ahab reactors. The still-active reactors were making it extremely hard to get a reading on any enemy movements. "Iok, don't go off on your own." She commented absently as she noticed one of the Graze drifting away from her small team of ten. "We don't know what's out here, and they're no doubt hiding in the debris field."

 _"Such cowards, these Martians,"_ commented a haughty voice over the communications link, " _Hiding in a field of debris and using the Ahab reactors from our fallen comrades to mask their own._ "

Julieta groaned internally, { _Why did Master Rustal have to put him on my team?_ } She sighed in exasperation, "It's pretty smart when you think about it," she said, pushing a mutilated Graze out of her path, gulping when the pilot's corpse floated out of the cockpit, "This situation's perfect for an ambush. With Lord Bauduin's Kimaris in the area with squad two, I doubt they want to risk one of their own Gundams unless they have a clear shot at it."

One of her teammates pushed what looked like a fallen enemy unit out of the way, Julieta noticing that there was very little damage to it. {... _Wait..._ }

The white/blue machine's eyes glowed a dangerous green as it suddenly started moving.

" _Thomson_!" Julieta yelled, too late.

The enemy unit slashed the cockpit of the closest Graze with a long-bladed assault knife, rending the metal open as the pilot's screams were cut off as he was ejected into space, and jetted away from the group, "This is squad six! We have enemy contact!"

Ahead of them more Mobile Suits began moving from the debris field, coming alive like the living dead from the killing field. And all of them looked much different than what she was led to believe. These were _not _Shidens!

" _Are those Gundams?!_ " One of her men yelped as he took aim with his rifle. Julieta didn't have time to comment as the battle began. Her remaining group of nine charged the incoming forces.

" _Strike Team, thin the heard, and go in for those Skipjacks!_ " Orga roared over his own frequency, firing his rifle at the head of a Graze, and whipped around to kick another in the chest area to put some distance between them. " _Take out as many as you can, but I don't wanna see any heroics!_ " He crashed his shield into the cockpit of the machine he had kicked, crushing it.

Julieta, listening in on the frequency, was stunned to hear several much younger voices respond to the command. { _Are they...are they all children?!_ } She yelped as one of the Strikes slashed at her with a Long Sword, narrowly missing her before she grasped the machine's arm, and crashed her Graze's knee into the elbow joint, shattering the coupling.

The machine drifted away from her, covered by another, this one, she noticed, had a red flower-like insignia painted on it. "Are you the commander of this squad?!"

" _You better believe I am!"_ Orga roared, shooting forward, his gun barrel blazing, pelting her shield with bullets.

The Graze and Strike shot away from the main group, needing the extra room as the two pilots circled each other, guns primed to take a shot if only one or the other would give them the shot they needed.

" _Hey, Tony, check it out, that chick's totally keeping up with the boss!_ "

" _No way, she doesn't have whiskers!_ "

Orga tried to ignore the fact that his two squad mates were right. On _both _accounts. He was having trouble with her. { _She's good._ } He grinned, sweating, { _But so am I!_ } He laughed and rocketed forward, shield raised, rifle thrust forward. " _Come on!_ "

"Go back to Mars!" Julieta yelled as the two collided in a mass of screeching metal, and sparks. She fired her rifle into the head of the Strike as Orga jammed his barrel into the left shoulder joint of the Graze. With an explosion the two fired off their shots. Julieta was sent tumbling end over end away from the Strike. Orga, half of his vision cut off by the destruction of his Strike's left eye camera, was still spinning when he righted himself, growling as he saw that the Graze was still intact. _And_ that his rifle bad been damaged from the blast. Casting it aside, he took the combat knife from its compartment, and went after her again.

On her side of the field, Julieta was in a similar state, her rifle arm being too damaged to function, she cast aside her shield and took out her secondary melee weapon, an axe, and crashed it against the Strike's shield as he collided with her, fending off the knife with her shield.

" _You're good,_ " Orga couldn't help but say as the two of them rattled around the battlefield, " _Haven't fought someone like you since that Seven Star bastard in the Kimaris!_ "

Julieta smiled slightly as sweat beaded her brow, "Glad I could impress you, Space Rat!"

" _The hell'd you call me!?_ " Orga kicked out with his Strike, sending the woman away from him and prepared to plunge the knife into her cockpit. Only to be blasted by gunfire from behind. " _What the - ?!_ "

" _Boss!"_ His squad mates shouted as they shot forward, seeing a Graze with its rifle primed at their leader.

"Iok!" Julieta snarled, "What the hell do you think you're doing!?" She roared at the offending Graze that had snuck up behind her opponent. "This wasn't your fight!"

" _I am well aware of that, Lady Juris, but I could not sit idly by while this brute bested you -_ " Iok began haughtily before the remaining Strikes surrounded him. Seeing the danger he was in, he bolted from the encirclement in a burst from his thrusters, and blew passed the disabled commander, who was swearing richly, and grabbed Julieta's Graze. " _Come, we should return and report this to Lord Elion._ "

"Wait a minute!" Julieta roared, fighting out of his grasp, and kicking him away from her, "I'm not going any - Kyah!" While the two had been arguing, Orga raised his right arm, and fired his grappling cable. The cable attached, latching onto the Graze, and hauling his machine forward. Using what little power his thrusters had left, he circled his Strike around the Graze, effectively wrapping it up in the powerful cable before Julieta could react, and thrust them toward the red planet. "What are you-!?" She screeched, seeing their flight path, "You wouldn't!"

" _I'm a space rat,_ " Orga spat, " _I'll do anything I damned well please!_ "

Heat began to consume them as they entered Mars' atmosphere. Julieta screamed as her Graze began to overheat and break apart in the Martian atmosphere. Orga ground his teeth in exertion as the heat threatened to knock him out. _{To the last man. To the last breath.}_ He recited in his head as his vision began to darken, _{I'll see you all when it's your turn.}_

 **.**

Mikazuki felt something cold run down his spine as he engaged the Kimaris. "What was that, Barbatos?" He asked his Gundam, casting a small glance toward Mars, "Is something wrong?" He wondered as he saw a small speck of light over the planet. "Orga?"

* * *

 _ **Table of Contents:**_

* * *

 _Martian Language:_ Though most Martian inhabitants speak Earth English, through the 300yrs since the Calamity War, nomadic people that lived on the Red Planet developed their own language unique to Mars. No one knows how the language came about as of yet.

 _Space Rat:_ A slang used on Human Debris; anyone that has been implanted with the Alaya-Vjnana system. Those known as Space Rats are considered lower than the people they work for, and often become mercenaries of the worst sort, embittered to the world that abandoned them. At the moment, the war between Gjallarhorn and the Martian Union is being fought over the fact that pirates supporting Gjallarhorn still attack merchant vessels, and sell off what children they find as Human Debris, doomed to have the Alaya-Vjnana system implanted.

The term is normally used as a racial insult.

 _Martian Currency (Credits):_ Among the currency of Mars, precious metals are used to create small _one ounce_ rectangular "Credits". The metals that are mined and used to create these Credits are Copper, Silver, Gold and Platinum.

Copper = 4.00

Silver = 15.00

Gold = 1300.00

Platinum = 30,000.00

Copper and Silver are the most commonly seen on the surface of Mars, with Gold and Platinum being used only by the rich, the latter being horded greedily by those in power. The worth of Human Debris is no more than twenty silver Credits depending on the age of the subject. Any older than ten years of age, and the price drops to half.

The worth of Mobile Workers is fifteen gold Credits, while the worth of a Mobile Suit, such as a Graze, would be thirty gold. A Gundam from the Calamity War is worth fifteen platinum Credits.

* * *

 _ **AN:**_ I've been sitting on this story for a year now, and finally decided to fine tune and publish it. BUT it's survival all depends on what you guys think of this first chapter. As you can see, it's focused more on Orga than it is on Mika and the gang. The pairing is as rare as it gets, Orga Itsuka x Julieta Juris. Mika and his two girls are already together, and their are Gundams from other anime/manga in this story, mainly from _Seed & Destiny_, and I'm hoping this will be on the short side/chapter wise, but knowing me, probably not.

P.S. To those that are waiting for me to update my Naruto Fics, don't bet on it anytime soon. Unfortunately, I'm dangerously low on fuel for Naruto, but that doesn't mean I'm giving them up.

Anyway, help this story survive, and review it. Say something nice, no trolls, though, or I'll set Mikazuki on ya :p


	2. War for Two Pt2 - Mars

_**AN:**_ Now I feel like I have myself a challenge on my hands. Barely anyone bloody commented on the story?! Come on! Are ya all asleep, or is it just that _bad_?! I know Gundam isn't all that popular as a writing subject, but now I really wanna get this out and see if I can peak your interest!

* * *

 _ **2: War for Two**_

 _ **Pt.2 - Mars**_

* * *

The battle that had taken place above the Red Planet had lasted for an entire twenty-four hours before Gjallarhorn finally decided to pull their forces back. With the additional forces from the Lunar fleet, Tekkadan's forces suffered several losses, including the commander of the Mobile Suit Fleet, Orga Itsuka. The losses consisted mostly of those that lacked the Alaya-Vjnana system, but a loss was a loss.

With the loss of Orga, morale had gone down greatly until word had gotten to Mikazuki about his brothers death. The pilot of the Barbatos had lost it completely then, flying into a rage yet to be seen as he pushed the Kimaris back, damaging the opposing Gundam heavily before it was forced to pull back from the battle. Gjallarhorn's foces suffered heavy losses as the Barbatos' rampage continued.

One of the Skipjack-class ships had taken irreparable damage due to shots fired from the Flauros' railgun, and had been forced to evacuate the crew before it had been taken down by the combined efforts of the Ryusei-Go team consisting of the Flauros and a full squadron of the long-range Buster frames.

With the combined efforts of Mikazuki and Akihiro's team, the Gjallarhorn Grazes had been forced to return from the battlefield in far fewer numbers than Rustal Elion had anticipated.

With the damage done to the Kimaris, the commander of the Lunar fleet, having discovered that one of the Graze lost in the battle had belonged to his protege; Julieta had been lost.

Iok Kujan himself reported how she had gone down in a cowardly suicide attempt by an opposing combatant whose machine had been too heavily damaged to continue fighting, and dragged the young woman into the Martian atmosphere before he could do anything to help her.

While the commander doubted the younger man's claims, the fact remained that the girl that he had watched blossom under his care as his successor was gone, lost to him because of a Martian Space Rat!

On the opposing side, Kudelia and the members of Tekkadan, the Iron Flower that never dies, mourned the loss of their friend and leader in much the same fashion as the leader of Gjallarhorn. The younger members held fast to Kudelia herself as she consoled them, while the older teenagers tried to keep themselves busy despite the pain of loss.

Akihiro, Mikazuki, Shino and Eugene were all in the mess hall, staring down at their food, left uneaten for once as the usually ravenous Gundam pilots milled over the battle.

Eugene picked at his food, sighing, "So, what do we do now?"

Akihiro looked at him, "Wha'd'ya mean?" He frowned, "The fight's not over, yet. They'll be back."

"Yeah," Shino agreed, finally taking a bite of his meal, "They won't stop until the get rid of us, and take control of Mars again."

"Or kill Kudelia," Mikazuki frowned, tightening his hands into fists, "I won't let either of those things happen."

Eugene shook his head, "Yeah, I guess you're right," he sighed, "Sorry, but I've never really done anything without Orga barking it in my ears."

"You worked with him the most, besides Mika, so you ought'a know what he'd want to do," Shino said, pointing his spoon at the blond-haired sub-commander, "And since you know how he'd do things, that leave you in his place, not me, Mika, or Akihiro, hell, not even Kudelia. The kids'll listen to you better than they will me or anyone else, except maybe Mika, or Atra, but Mika'll be too busy with fighting, and Atra's got the baby to think about."

"I know, I know, it's just a lot to wrap my head around," Eugene frowned, shaking his head, "Orga's gone, and I'm in command?"

"We're all gonna die," Shino bemoaned dramatically, laughing when Eugene flicked a spoon full of potatoes at him, "Hey, don't waist food!"

"Then don't talk about dying when we're in a war, you dumbass!" Eugene roared angrily, "In case you forgot, I just lost my best friend out there!"

Mikazuki nodded, frowning, "Remember what Orga always used to say?" He asked drawing their attention to him, "Don't mourn the dead, because you'll have plenty of time to catch up when it's your turn."

"Yeah, and you can bet that I'm gonna give'em hell when I see him again," Shino grinned, and patted his friend on the back, "First thing's first, though, we gotta give those bastards from Gjallarhorn hell for takin' our brothers away from us, right?"

"Right," Akihiro agreed.

Mikazuki sighed and got up from the table, "I'm gonna go check on Atra."

"Maybe you should make her go back down to Mars," Eugene suggested, "Who knows what's gonna happen, I mean what if the ship gets attacked?"

Mikazuki looked back at him, "I think about that all the time, more so now that Orga's not here anymore," he said, leaving the room.

* * *

(*)

* * *

Julieta groaned, her entire body aching, attempting to open her eyes even a fraction, but found herself blinded by light. { _Wait,_ } she thought as she recalled what had happened, { _How am I even alive?_ } She wondered, cracking her eyes open again. This time she was able to get a small inclination of where she was. It was a tent...or a hut from the look of it, made from what looked like animal hide, bones, and scrap metal formed into the supports.

She tried to sit up, finding herself covered by a hide blanket, and that was it. Her clothes, that is, her normal suit and underclothes, were laid out beside her head, seemingly washed, and stitched in a few places. { _I had to have survived the heat from reentry, and the crash, but how?_ } She wondered once more, clutching the blanket to her chest, reaching for her clothes, determined to at least preserve some modesty.

It was then that she noticed that she was not alone. A startled shriek nearly erupted from her throat as she spotted a man beside her, unclothed like herself, and heavily bandaged. His skin was dark, and his hair was a wild patch of white, his eyes, one of them covered by a bandage, were closed, signifying that he was sleeping. His clothes were also laid out next to his head, and he sported a red normal suit with the Martian insignia of Tekkadan on it.

He was the one that had brought her down!

She suddenly had an urge to strangle the man with her blanket, damn the consequences, just to have the last laugh on him. Yet, looking down at herself, she saw that she was far less injured than he was. Her arms and torso were bandaged up, covering severe burns from the reentry, and she felt a small lump behind the wrap on her forehead, but other than that, she was fine.

The Martian, however, looked like he'd been put through a meat grinder. His chest and arms were heavily bandaged with bloodstains seeping through, and his face was covered, his right eye hidden by the bandages while his forehead was also wrapped. { _What the hell happened to us...and how am I...how are we..._} Her thoughts were running a mile a minute as she wondered just what had happened during the crash landing on the Martian surface.

The tent flap opened up, prompting the girl to squeak in alarm and cover herself with the blanket, only to find a woman stepping into the hut, her clothing made of the same type of hide as her blanket. Her face was painted from her forehead down to midway across her nose, the upper half painted blue with a thin line of white across the bridge of her nose, and her lips painted the same shade of blue.

She carried what looked like a clay bowl in her hands, sloshing with some kind of liquid, making her acutely aware of how hot, and thirsty she was. The woman, seeing that the girl was awake, smiled at her, " _Dan ohk das?_ " She said, the words sounding like a question, in a language Julieta had never heard before, " _Ohk dan koecan?_ " She asked, moving to sit beside her.

Julieta shook her head, "I-I'm sorry," she said, her voice raspy and dry, "I can't understand - "

The woman held up her hand in a halting gesture, and held the bowl up, miming drinking from it. Julieta smiled and nodded as quickly as she could before the woman helped her to sit up, the blanket sliding embarrassingly down the girl's front as she helped her drink. Thankfully, the bowl contained water. _Cool_ , fresh water. Julieta almost moaned as the cool liquid passed through down her throat, taking away the dryness.

She was allowed to drink her fill before she was laid back down on the mat while the woman fixed her blanket back into place. The woman then moved over to the Martian pilot, Julieta only just noticing that their skin tone was similar, thought the woman's was slightly darker than his own. { _If she were any darker, I'd think she was from the African Union back on Earth._ } She thought while the woman forced some of the water down the pilots throat. He choked and sputtered for a moment before coming awake.

The woman smiled down at him, and spoke in her strange language again, sounding as if she were trying to reassure him. To her surprise, the pilot replied in the same language, smiling up at her gratefully. She chattered at him a moment longer, smiling at the knowledge of him knowing her language. The pilot nodded, smiling weakly before the woman all but bustled out of the hut.

Julieta blinked a moment before asking, "You know their language?"

The Martian pilot looked over at her with his one visible eye, and, to her confusion, chuckled, "I ought to," he said, sounding horribly weak, "It's my native language," he said, "The language that was born here on Mars."

Julieta looked a little stunned, "Martian people have their own language?"

"Natives do," he said, "these people are descendants of the original Martian colonists. The ones that stepped away from the war three hundred years ago, and carved out a life for themselves with their own hands."

Julieta frowned, "I thought that Mars was a barren wasteland," she said, looking at the young man in bewilderment, "How is it that they're able to live away from the colony?"

The Martian chuckled again, "Mars was dead until they created the new atmosphere, and made it habitable," he explained, "But then, there was not life here. No seeds to produce plants, and no animals to spread those seeds." He smiled, "Now, though, there are animals roaming around in the very few green spots on the planet. Mars is slowly coming back to life. The soil is getting richer with each day."

Julieta frowned, "You sound like an poet. I never thought that the pilot crazy enough to push us into the atmosphere would be so idealistic."

The Martian choked on a laugh, even though it pained him, "And I never thought such a good Mobile Suit pilot would be so incredibly beautiful." He said, forcing a small blush to her cheeks as the young man pondered something, "But then again, my brother's wives are all excellent pilots, and beautiful, so I guess I shouldn't be that surprised."

Julieta actually found herself pouting, "You're _so_ charming," she said sarcastically before a thought occurred to her, " _Wives_?"

Before he could answer, the woman from before came back in, holding two bowls of some sort of steaming white mash. Julieta frowned as the woman set one bowl beside her, sniffing at it and finding it odorless. "It's just wheat gruel," the Martian pilot said, seeing the look on her face, "Trust me, it's not all that bad."

The woman chattered at him for a moment, "She wants to know if you need help to eat, or if you can do it on your own," he translated.

Julieta smiled at the woman, and made a show of sitting up, albeit clumsily as she had to keep hold of the blanket around her chest. She then frowned at him, "I'd appreciate it if you didn't look, or else I might have to cut something off while you're asleep."

The pilot shook his head, "I'm no better off than you are, you know?" He said, frowning, then looked at the woman, " _Ash karau xaeo blika._ "

The woman looked a little confused by his words, but nodded, moving in front of the girl and taking her underclothes. Julieta frowned, "What did you tell her?"

The woman pushed her top at her and the girl understood right away; he'd told her that she wanted her clothes. Her top was a short type of tank that ended just above her belly, but if covered much of what she didn't want him seeing. She had to be helped into her shorts, her legs feeling numb from her burns. The pilot, she noticed, had turned his head away from her as she dressed, which she was grateful for, and soon she was able to eat without worry.

Pleased that the girl would be fine, the woman moved over to the pilot, who was trying, without success, to sit up. Julieta frowned as he was helped, and saw that the stains on his bandages became soaked on the left side of his abdomen. The woman frowned and quickly laid him back down, and started cleaning his wounds, and dressing them with new bindings.

The girl was nearly sick to her stomach as she caught sight of the nasty wound on his side. It was a huge puncture wound, obviously from a piece of metal being lodged in his side, and cut out by crude tools. It was probably pure luck that he hadn't bled out by now.

After he was settled once more, she helped him eat. Julieta started eating as well, and found it surprisingly good. When they were fed, the woman left them again, the girl looking at the pilot almost worriedly. He looked much paler than he had moments ago. Still, she needed answers.

"How did we survive?" She asked.

The pilot frowned, his remaining eye closed, "Luck. After we left the atmosphere, I think the emergency reentry program kicked in, and my Gundam's chute launched. When I came to, our Suits were pretty much welded together."

"How did you get so many injuries, then," she asked, looking down at her arms, ad legs, "All I have are burns and a few scrapes and bruises. If we...Iok." She said, realizing that her charge had been the one that back-shot the pilot. "How bad off are you?"

The pilot shrugged, "I don't know. I just know I had a piece of metal in my gut when I pulled you out - "

That got her attention, " _You_ got me out?" She asked, looking at him sharply, "I thought it was these people, not you."

The Martian shook his head, "Nope, that was me."

Julieta was silent for a moment, shocked that an enemy would even consider helping her. "Why?"

The pilot chuckled weakly, "You're on Mars, now," he said simply, "It takes more than one to survive down here."

"Right," she sighed, laying back down to rest, "And how do I get back to my fleet?"

He didn't answer, making the girl frown until she saw that he was asleep again. She sighed, and rolled over onto her side, "I don't even know your name." She sighed, her eyes drifting shut, "I need...I need to thank you for saving me, at least."

She fell asleep again within moments, the sound of wind rustling the hut, and the voices of people outside calming her.

* * *

(*)

* * *

"So, Orga finally bit the big one, huh?" Nadi Kassapa sighed as he face the screen where Kudelia was speaking, "I always knew he'd get himself killed with that attitude of his, but _damn_."

" _I know,_ " the young woman sighed tearfully, " _Everyone's still a little shocked about it. Ride took it that hardest. He's locked himself in his quarters, and refuses to come out until it's time to fight again, and I'm worried that he might do something stupid._ "

Nadi nodded, crossing his arms, "Ride looked up to Orga like a father figure, sort'a like he and Eugene did with me." He said, sighing, "It's gonna take some time before they all come out of it. And since Orga took that other pilot with him, there's really no one they can take their anger out on, so all they have is their grief."

" _I know, and I fully understand,_ " Kudelia said, sighing, " _I just worry about them is all. I mean, they're all fighting because I refused to let Gjallarhorn do as they please._ "

"They're fighting because it's all they know," the man said, sighing, "believe me, I know that better than anyone. I helped raise Orga, and the older members of Tekkadan." He said, looking behind him, "Too bad. I had the new ships ready for you to assign. I even got the new Gundam frame repaired, and ready for Orga. I also used white nanolaminent armor for the ship you wanted him to captain."

" _You did?_ " She smiled sadly, " _Orga would've liked that. What did yo call it?_ "

Nadi smiled, "It's a little corny, but original blueprints we found along with the Gundam called them the Archangel-class, so we called Orga's the Archangel." He said sadly, "I've heard that angels were guardian deities back on Earth, or something silly like that, and thought that this one could do a good job of protecting out little family...yeah, not so much, now."

Kudelia smiled at him, " _I think it's a lovely name. Please, keep that one down there for now. The Gundam, too. We may need them sooner or later._ "

"About that," he said, scratching the back of his head, "We've actually got another Gundam down here we're close to finishing up." He said, catching her interest, "When we found the blueprints, we found the plans for a real monster of a frame. We built the thing from scraps we scraped together from the Debris field, and did the best we could to make this thing a real Gundam Frame. It was supposed to be the last of the series."

" _What will you do with it once it's completed?_ " She asked.

Nadi sighed, "Honestly, I want to send this thing into the deepest pits of storage now that I see what it's really capable of," he admitted, "Orga's new unit would have been a monster, but this thing? I'd call it a demon in armor."

Kudelia shook her head, " _Needs must, I suppose._ " She said, " _Perhaps we won't need to use it._ "

"I hope not," Nadi said, "I'll break the news to the kids down here. Any chance your lot can come down and attend a funeral ceremony for him?"

Kudelia smiled, " _I think everyone would like that,_ " she admitted, " _Gjallarhorn's forces have pulled back toward the Lunar base, giving us at least a month of preparation time for a round trip there and back, if they decide to attack again._ "

* * *

(*)

* * *

Three days had passed by while Julieta recovered. Life in the Martian village was rather peaceful. She even managed to learn a bit of their language in the short amount of time she was up and about. The first chance she had gotten, she and a few villagers returned to her downed Mobile Suit, and salvaged what she could in order to travel.

The Martian pilot, however, remained asleep for a large amount of time during those three days. The few times he woke were filled with the village healer fussing over him, and trying to get his body back into shape again. She knew what was wrong. All the blood he had lost was taking too long to build back up with so little protein. What food he was able to stomach was mostly the same wheat gruel they'd eaten the first day. Anything else was proving too rich for his stomach to handle.

As she milled around the village, she had to marvel at how well made it was. The homes were made from a combination of mud and straw called adobe. The walls of the homes were strong, and incredibly warm during the cold desert nights.

The animals, the ones she saw, were...strange. She was assured that they had once been Earth-type animals, but that had been well over three hundred years ago. What the Martians called a " _yayir_ ", a horse in the Earth language, was a tall, shaggy, and long-necked creature with cloven hooves instead of one solid hoof like the horses she had seen back home. But they were gentle beasts, and fast when they galloped across open ground.

Other beasts she saw were more recognizable, like their " _loc_ ", or oxen. The great brutish animals were larger than the yayir, and much more bulky; a meat animal, for certain.

On the second day, she watched as a villager had used one of the oxen to plow a field, then watched again as others had followed behind him and planted the field, and again when children came behind the with buckets filled with well-water.

The wells, she found, had been hand-dug.

Little by little, her perspective of the Red Planet was beginning to change. The people of the colonial city were both descendants of the first colonists, and immigrants from Earth through the recent years, yet she preferred these natives to the colonists. It was a simple way of life, and she felt that she could enjoy it when she retired from her life in the military.

{ _If I ever get back to that life_ ,} she thought, sighing as she returned to her hut, her wounds taking a small toll on her body.

And then there was the pilot.

She didn't want to admit it, but she would need his help in getting back into space. She was a stranger on the planet, and had no idea which direction to even go in order to reach the colony.

"You pull me down to this planet in an attempt to kill me, and then you turn right around and save my life," she muttered, drawing her knees up to her chest as she watched him sleep, "You've got to be the strangest Martian I've ever met."

"I aim to please," the man muttered tiredly, startling her.

"You're awake!" Julieta found herself smiling as the young man groaned and tried to sit up, "Wait a minute! Let me get someone!"

The pilot shook his head, holding up his hand to stop her, "Don't bother," he said, frowning, touching the bandages around his right eye, "I think I'm running on a little less than a half a tank right now, but it's better than empty..." he sighed, looking at her, "How long have I been out?"

"Three days," the girl sighed, "Nana, the woman that was tending to us, was pretty worried about you...and, I guess I was, too."

"Really?" He smirked at her, "I'm flattered."

She scowled at him, "Don't be," she huffed, "I just need you to get me back home, that way I can end this stupid war of yours."

He smiled at her, "Well, I don't know about ending the war, but I can get you back to your fleet, provided they're still around." He said, flexing his arms, "But I don't think I'm fit for travel, yet."

"Of course, you're not!" Julieta huffed, "The hole in your side's still healing. It'll be at least another month before it closes, and probably another four months before you completely recover."

The pilot sighed, "I can't stay down that long," he said, "My brothers probably think I'm dead. I need to get back to them and let them know that I'm not, at least."

Julieta sighed at his stubbornness, "Well, you don't have a choice. I need you, and I want you at full strength before we start traveling."

"Too bad," he said, growling as his lone eye glared at her, "You wanna lay around on your back for five months, be my guest, but I'm leaving as soon as I an walk straight."

Julieta shook her head, "In that case, you should tell me your name," she suggested, "That way I can carve your name on your tombstone."

The pilot looked at her, "It's Orga, Orga Itsuka." He said, "Your turn, Ms. Gjallarhorn."

"Julieta Juris," she said, glancing down, "Now why don't you put some clothes on? I'd rather not see anymore of you than I have to."

* * *

(*)

* * *

Rustal frowned as he regarded the man in front of him, the usual smirk nowhere to be found on the face of McGillis Fareed, or his friend, and Gundam pilot, Gaelio Bauduin.

"And what may I do for the two of you, if I may ask?" He said, the frown never leaving his face. "You know very well that I'm quite busy with this latest fiasco during the battle with the Martian forces."

Both men snapped a salute, "Our condolences for your loss, Sir," McGillis said sadly, "Ensign Juris was a fine young officer."

"Thank you," he sighed, "Indeed, she will be dearly missed." He said, casting a glare at the man, "Was their something else that the two of you needed?"

"Yes, sir," Gaelio said, "Since we're retreating to the Lunar base, would it be possible to - "

"The Astaroth stays right where it is," Rustal intoned angrily, "If you think the Barbatos is a monster, then you don't know what monsters are."

"But my Kimaris is heavily damaged, and will take time to repair," the Bauduin heir stated, "And the only machines that have shown any progress against the Barbatos, Gusion, and Flauros are other Gundams. Surely the Astaroth would only help us?"

Rustal frowned at the man, lacing his fingers together, "Are either of you willing to undergo the machinations of having the Alaya-Vjnana implanted?" He demanded, gladdened to see Gaelio become green in the face with disgust, "Because, no matter how we've tried, the Astaroth with not operate without the system, and none that have undergone the operation have survived because they are far too old to be have it done to them. And none wish to force it upon their children."

"Yet the forces of Tekkadan, and their Gundam pilots all seem to have them," McGillis said, frowning, "Perhaps we should try to fight fire with fire in this situation. Gundam against Gundam seems to be the only way of defeating those three. But Gaelio can only do so much until one or more of them combine their efforts and take his Kimaris out, unless you're willing to take the Bael out of storage?"

Rustal frowned, knowing that the two younger men were right on many accounts. But neither Gundam they spoke of was an option for him. They were too dangerous, both to the pilots, and the morale of Gjallarhorn. He sighed, "We will have to have Captain Issue's forces and their Graze Ritters added to the forces. They are a more advanced machine suited for close quarters combat. And if we must, we will break a few of our own laws to see this insurrection put to rest."

"As you wish, Sir," McGillis said before Gaelio could protest further, "Will we be performing any funeral duties for those we lost in the last battle?"

"I will be giving a eulogy when we reach the base," he said, sighing, "If that is all, then please leave, I have much to go over before we reach the base."

The two men left his office, and the man turned his gaze toward his window, watching the stars go by as the ship moved toward their destination. "It seems that I must contact a few of our clients when we reach the base," he said to himself, "Galan will certain want to know of Julieta's death, and perhaps he will even join the battle." He sighed, watching the planet of Mars fading into a bright red star as they left the Martian territory. "Gundams, huh? Seems like the ghosts of _Space Monsters_ are appearing more and more as time passes."

* * *

 _ **Table of Contents**_

 _Space Monster_ : One of many terms used to describe those with natural Spacial Awareness. Commonly known as New Types, these rare individuals were highly skilled as Mobile Suit pilots, particularly when it came to Gundams. When one of these New Types was found, it was a mad dash to get them into a Mobile Suit, lest they be coerced into joining another side. It was from these individuals that the Alaya-Vjnana system, which gave the young subject an artificial Awareness of his Mobile Suit's surroundings, was birthed.

* * *

 _ **AN:**_ Well, since starting this chapter the story got attention from five people, which I'm eternally grateful for, but it needs more from you guys, if you're willing to read, I need to know what you want to see. I already have a fairly decent idea of where this story is going to go, but I'd like to hear from all of you, even Guests, about what you think of this story.

So Merry Christmas, and please, be kind, and leave a review.


	3. The Path Home

_**AN:**_ Well, we're starting to pick up, but still not to where I'm satisfied. Also, in answer to to Locke Lynx, Mobile Armors will appear in this fic. Both from the Hamshal of Iron-Blooded Orphans, and the Mobius from Gundam Seed series.

* * *

 _ **3: The Path Home**_

* * *

Nadi sighed as the Dominion was readied and loaded with the latest Mobile Suits and Mobile Armors. The Mobile Armors were not the true monsters from the Calamity War, but a plane-style ship piloted by a single person. It had been nearly a week since he began making plans for Orga's funeral. So far, a large turnout had already arrived to see him off.

The Turbines and Teiwaz had come to see off the leader of a fallen son, and brother. Naze Turbine, and his many wives and children had turned up only a day after his talk with Kudelia. Amida had been the one to give her condolences to him while he worked on the second Archangel-class ship. He was grateful for it, but wanted to focus more on his work to keep his mind off of the fact that a young man that had been like a son to him was never going to come back home.

"It's a magnificent ship," commented a voice from beside him as he turned around and noted the man that had come to speak with him. McMurdo Barriston was a large man, almost as large as himself, but the man was a gentle soul, proven when he showed kindness and a firm hand with Tekkadan when they were young, and before they had become the army of Mars.

"Thank you," Nadi said, sighied, "This one was going to be Eugene's, but he wants to keep captaining the Isaribi," he said, looking back at the black and red ship, "It's fine for now, but this beauty will be needed sooner than later."

"I know that very well, Mr. Yukinojo," the master of Teiwaz said, nodding sadly, "Naze spoke highly of Orga whenever he visited me, and now that I see the pain that his loss inflicts on him, even now after nearly two weeks, I see that he saw him as a real younger brother aside from being a sworn brother." He said, sighing, "Though I don't wish to lose another son, would you consider giving this ship to my son, Naze?"

Nadi looked at him, "To Naze?" He asked, "What about the Hammerhead?" He wondered, "And I thought you didn't want him to get anymore involved in this war than he already is as a supply runner for us?"

McMurdo nodded, sighing, "He's threatened to cut ties with me, just so he could fight against Gjallarhorn." He said, frowning, "I don't like it anymore than I did when I heard that Orga was involving himself with a planetary war. But these two boys are young, and with Orga gone, Naze wants payback, and so do his women."

Nadi chuckled, "Old men like us are suppose to knock the hell outta our kids when they act like this, you know?"

McMurdo laughed heartily, "Believe me, I've done that, several times, but in the end, a child will always break away from their parents, and forge a path all their own," he sighed, frowning, "Still, it was far too soon for Orga to leave us...that boy had so much potential. I even had a few young ladies lined up to meet him, and hoped that a few of them would catch his fancy."

"Orga and a girl?" Nadi smirked, "You know, I've never seen him take an interest a girl. For a while I thought he might be more inclined to men, but that all changed when I found a few magazines stuffed into his footlocker." He laughed, "Oh, the look on his face when he saw me with them!" He grinned along with the Teiwaz boss.

"You should've seen Naze with Amida when his family was still just the two of them," he said, sighing, "It brings me no end of joy having him and his little ones in my life. I can see that I'll have my pick of successors when the time comes." He said, smiling, "This Eugene, the blond boy that's always at Orga's side when he visits, do you think he's up to task?"

"Only time can tell," Nadi sighed, "He and little Ride took Orga's passing the hardest, so I'm wondering how this will effect things when the fighting starts up again."

McMurdo nodded, "A valid point," he said, frowning, "It makes me wonder how all of this will end."

"When it does, I'm hoping that Mars will be like Jupiter and be independent from Gjallarhorn." Nadi sighed, chuckling, "The Earth Sphere, the Empire of Jupiter, and the Martian Union, heh, sounds like something from the Cosmic Era, doesn't it?"

"Yes, that it does," McMurdo said, chuckling along with him, "Ah, but what a thing to see, eh? Three planets of humans, all from different walks of life, and considered separate races because of their new homes."

"I'm a black man born on Jupiter, and living on Mars, what does that make me?" Nadi asked, "All of these kids though?" He said, looking back at the warship, "They come from all over. Mostly from Earth, but there's some from Jupiter, and others were born here on Mars like Orga was." He said, sighing, "Did he ever tell you where he came from?"

"No, he didn't," McMurdo said, "Wasn't he from Chryse?"

Nadi shook his head, "Orga was actually born to the Sehlirk, those hill tribes left over from the original colonists from before the Calamity War." This surprised McMurdo greatly. Of all the Martian people, little was known about the Sehlirk, or nomads in common English. Word had it that they were now different than normal humans, but no one ever saw them, and had a chance to see for themselves.

"Orga was a native-born Martian," Nadi continued, "He got separated from his tribe when Brewers were hunting down easy marks for Human Debris. Sehlirk are easy targets because they don't have any advanced weapons like rifles, or explosives." He went on, sighing, "From what I understand, Orga and his family put up a hell of a fight before the poor kid was swiped. When the kid was brought Maruba Arkay back in the CGS days, he was wild, and couldn't talk our language worth a lick. Took me a year to tame him down, and another year before he warmed up to me. He met up with Mikazuki not long after that, and I watched those two little rascals grow up into a pair of fine young men."

McMurdo smiled, "I bet they were a handful."

"They were," Nadi smiled and it was then that McMurdo noted that the man had tears misting over his eyes, "But I don't regret a moment of raising those two boys. Just having to let them go."

McMurdo placed his hand on the big man's shoulder, "Your son was a fine man, I know that much from what my own said about him. I have no doubt I would have grown as fond of him as I am of Naze given more time with him."

Nadi scrubbed at his eyes with his arm, clearing his throat, "I...I've got no problem letting Naze and his family have the Dominion...but you'll have to run it by Kudelia first...just make sure that if they fight against Gjallarhorn, they give'em hell for me."

McMurdo nodded, "I can do that. It's been too long since I've seen some action, and maybe it's time I show these youngsters how we brought the hammer down in my day."

"I'm glad to hear you say that," Kudelia said as she came up to the two men, smiling sadly at the pair, "Naze already spoke to me about joining the fight, and I'd be glad to have you advising us."

McMurdo smiled at the young woman seeing Mikazuki and Atra, a definite bulge in her stomach, tailing behind her as they made their way over to them, "It's a role I would happily take up." He said as the rest of her growing family made it to them, "Atra, it's good to see you again. How's the little one?"

Atra blushed happily, "Growing every day," she smiled, looking slightly tired, "He keeps me up all night sometimes when he starts kicking."

"You already know it's a boy, eh?" McMurdo smiled happily, "Good, good, a boy for your first child is a sign of a strong beginning."

Mikazuki placed his arm around her shoulders protectively, "As long as the baby's born safe and sound, that's all that matters to me." He said, smiling slightly as he gave his wife a slight squeeze.

Atra giggled affectionately, "Yeah, but next time, it's Kudelia's turn."

" _Atra_!" The blonde revolutionary squealed, much to the amusement of the two men.

* * *

(*)

* * *

Orga staggered to his feet with a pained expression on his face as he tried to stand. His legs were weak and wobbled horribly before he was forced to grab at the walls of the hut for support lest he fall over and reopen his wounds again.

{ _Two weeks,_ } He growled to himself as he tried to get his legs to move, { _Two weeks, and I'm still sittin' on my ass!_ } Frustration over his injuries had taken him over long before the first week had passed. The fact that he was able to move now was more than enough to make his blood boil. He _needed_ to move!

"Are you at it again?" Julieta asked as she ducked into the hut, frowning at the Martian, "You're going to hurt yourself doing that. Nana's gonna get mad at you, too."

Orga groaned, "We've been sitting around for two weeks, Julieta," he growled, "I can't be away from the fleet any longer than I already have! I have to get back!"

The Gjallarhorn pilot frowned and moved over to him, taking him by the arm and leading back to his bed, "I admire your devotion to your fleet, but you won't be going anywhere if you bleed to death here." She said, sitting him down on the mat, "I'm just as eager to get back to my comrades as well, but I still need your help, which means I can't let you die...not yet, anyway." She added with a light smirk.

Orga frowned at her, "My wounds are fine." He said, "And we need to speak to the chief about getting some horses for the trip back, or we'll never make across the desert."

The girl smiled at him, "I've already asked them for help," she assured him, "Nana said that we could take two of the horses, and as much water as we could carry. Between our two Mobile Suits, we have enough food rations to last a few weeks if need be."

"We won't be out here that long," he said, frowning at the thought of being away much longer than he already had, "With the horses, we should make it to Chryse in under a week if we don't get caught in a sandstorm." Taking note of her new attire, "But it looks like you're pretty much part of the tribe, now, huh?"

Julieta pursed her lips lightly. Her new clothes, at least the Sehlirk called them clothes, were made from tanned horse leather. The shirt she wore was rather baggy, but the leggings were tight, and revealed a bit of skin along the outside of her legs as they were laced together with hide strings.

Nana had nearly gotten her to paint her face as well, but she had insistently refused each time. Orga explained that the facial markings on the women of the tribe, such as the ones Nana had, signified a married woman. A clean face was a free woman to be courted and wedded. When she put the question to her through Orga, both had been surprised to hear that Nana thought them to be a married couple.

Julieta had never been so embarrassed in her life, and repeatedly told her _no _in the Martian language, what she knew of it, anyway. Nana had had a good laugh out of the entire thing when Orga explained that they were unmarried, and only tolerated each other because they needed to get back to the colony. According to her, the two enemy pilots had a connection of the stars, a belief in their tribe that the two of them were represented by two stars that were extremely close together. Such a thing meant that the two of them were bound together for as long as they lived.

Julieta chocked it up to tribal superstition, while Orga just ignored it altogether.

"Whether they accept me as one of their own, or not isn't the issue," she huffed and sat down next to him, "It's the fact that you need to rest a little longer before we leave. I'm no medical officer, but that wound on your side isn't properly healed, yet. If it tears open while we're traveling, then you'll never make it back to these brothers of yours."

"I almost wish we'd have a run-in with one of the pirates that frequent this planet," Orga frowned, sighing, "At least then we could steal a vehicle of some kind."

"Stealing from pirates," Julieta chuckled, "How poetic."

Orga gave her a small smile, "The Brewers crossed my path once, and they paid for it in blood, and in metal." He said, grinning, "Funny thing is, most of the pirates out this way are either backed, or are backing up Gjallarhorn."

The girl looked at him sharply, "Backed by Gjallarhorn?" She sneered, "Now I know you're trying to provoke me. There's no way Master Rustal would allow something like that!"

"Who said anything about Rustal Elion?" Orga asked, shrugging his shoulders, "The Brewers have get backing from the Kujan family when things are looking good for both of them, and we met up with another that had the back of Commander Coral."

Julieta frowned, sitting back and crossing her arms, "Iok I could actually see doing some kind of deal under the table, but not Miss Issue, or Lord Bauduin. And the Fareed family is too influential to risk dealing with pirates."

"You don't think they do it in person, do you?" He asked skeptically, "Come on, I know you're not stupid." He was treated to a harsh glare from the girl, "They have people on their side that meet with these guys for them so they don't have to get their hands dirty. Out of sight, out of mind, get it?"

"I suppose that's true." She relented.

Orga sighed and tried to stand again, only for Julieta to push him back down, "Knock it off!" He snapped, "I need to get back on my feet!"

"And you won't if you keep pushing yourself like this!" She snapped back, "Look, I get it, you're worried, and so am I. Right now everyone probably thinks we're as dead as this planet used to be."

"No doubt about that," Orga quipped.

"But!" Julieta huffed, "That doesn't mean we have to be stupid about getting back. You're hurt, I'm hurt, I.E. we need to recover before we go anywhere."

"And I already told you that I'm not waiting four to five months to heal up!" He growled before staggering to his feet. His legs shook horribly, but he managed to stay standing. His side throbbed with each step he took, but he ignored it in favor of taking his first steps outside of their shared hut.

And nearly blundered right into their caretaker.

"AH! What you doing!? Go, go, back to rest, go!" Nana chattered in broken English as she ushered him back, nearly toppling him over.

" _Nlarabi deleo_ ," Orga huffed as she all but shoved him back down on his sleeping mat.

" _Imhserahi vrima_ ," the woman nagged, placing a steaming bowl next to him, "Eat, make strong, then go for walk." She huffed, and gave another bowl to Julieta, "You much luck him no husband." She said before bustling out again in a huff.

Julieta grimaced to keep herself from laughing, though it was clear to Orga that she was struggling. "What did she say?"

"I called her a crazy woman and she called me stubborn boy," he translated, much to her amusement. He picked up the bowl she had brought, and sniffed, "What is this stuff?"

Julieta picked up her bowl, smiling, "Their idea of beef stew," she said, spooning some of the stew into her mouth, humming slightly, "This'll definitely get you back on your feet again. It's full of protein and starches."

"No idea what any of those are," He said, taking a bite of his own, quickly downing more.

"You act like you've never had meat before," she observed.

"Haven't," he said around a mouthful, "Livestock's scarce around the colonies, so all we usually get is crops from the local farms."

 **.**

It was another three days before Orga was allowed to walk around the village, and, to Julieta's surprise, he was moving rather well for someone with a hole in his gut. The first thing he did, however, was trek all the way back to their Mobile Suits. The only thing she could do was trail after him in hopes that he didn't try to ditch her, or collapse from the strain.

"Do we really need to be out here right now?" She asked as he rummaged around inside his Gundam, "We're pretty far from the village, and I'm not sure I could carry you back if you went down on me."

Orga nearly sputtered, and bumped his head inside the cockpit. "Trust me," he chuckled to himself, "If I went _down_ on you, you'd be the one that needed to be carried."

"What?" She asked, having not heard him.

"Nothing, nothing," he chuckled, and checked behind his seat, "Aha, found'em!"

Julieta looked up at him curiously, "Found what?"

He tossed out two automatic rifles, and several clips worth of ammo. "We're gonna need these if we're moving across the desert." He said, climbing back down from the downed machine with a pair of forty-five caliber long colts in hand.

She picked up one of the rifles, frowning, "You think we'll run into trouble?"

"I know we will," he said, strapping the two pistols to his waist, and dusting off his hands, wincing slightly, "If we don't run into men that deal in Human Debris, then we'll have trouble with wild animals."

She looked at him skeptically, "What sort of wild animals?"

"Wild dogs and pigs that have had three hundred years to adapt to Mars," he said, prodding at his side for a moment, smirking when he found no blood from his wound, "Between them, the dogs, and the pigs, I wouldn't know which ones are worse."

"I think I'd take the trafficers," Julieta frowned, "At least I wouldn't feel any pity for killing them, and we could take what gear they have."

Orga nodded, "We could, but, like the animals, they tend to travel in packs," he said, sitting down on the foot of Julieta's Graze. "And at night, we'll face freezing temperatures."

"So we light a fire," she said simply, "Doesn't sound so hard to me. It'll keep the animals away, too."

"No, it won't," Orga frowned, "I don't know what it's like on Earth, but fire, light, or the smell of smoke tends to attract attention out here." He said, "What grasslands there are around here are breeding grounds for small animals like rats, and hares, and when a fire breaks out, they get caught in the blaze, so every carnivore with an appetite knows that fire means easy food."

Julieta grimaced uncomfortably, "So, this means..."

"We'll have to share body heat," he nodded, much to her dismay, "I know we're on different sides, but look at the bigger picture. It's either stay out here with the Sehlirk, and become Martian nomads, no thank you, by the way, or we suck it up, and work together to survive and get our asses back home. Agreed?"

She begrudgingly nodded, "Agreed." She sighed, "Despite being an enemy pilot, I believe you to be an honorable man, so I doubt you'll take advantage of me."

Ogra chuckled, shaking his head, hefting one of the rifles, "You have nothing that I want to take advantage of, believe me." He said, earning another glare from her, "Besides, women don't concern me at the moment, the only thing that does is my friends, and my home planet being free from people like the Brewers, and others that see us as nothing but space rats." He said, looking at her, "That goes for Gjallarhorn, too."

"Why does Mars hate Gjallarhorn so much, anyway?" She asked with a huff, "We've done so much good - "

"For yourselves," Orga said, cutting her off, "Go to the Dort Colonies, and see how the people of low rank live. In poverty. Children here either get sold, or starve to death on the streets because no one can afford to care for them unless they work for people that use Human Debris."

Julieta wanted to fight back on Gjallarhorn's behalf, but knowing that some of the families had connections to pirates, she really couldn't.

* * *

(*)

* * *

Rustal Elion sighed as he began to address the eulogy, "In the conflict with Mars, many lives have been lost, brave soldiers one and all, but none will be more missed than that of Lady Julieta Juris, my adopted daughter." He said, "The Seven Stars of Gjallarhorn all came from lesser houses, but through their victory in the Calamity War, they rose up to govern the world, and beyond." He went on, noting that Iok, beside a rather disgusted McGillis Fareed, was crying a river of tears down his face.

"Julieta, whose prowess inside a Mobile Suit was near unmatched, was from a house destroyed. A common-born orphan that was destined to become what we all know as Human Debris. But through the grace of whatever gods or goddesses there may be, she found her way to my side, and proved her worth as an amazing, loyal, and beloved comrade. To die in battle is the highest honor anyone could hope to achieve outside an Order of the Seven Stars platinum class, which would have given the bearer a seat on the Council of Seven, and leadership among our ranks. Here and now, in recognition of her bravery, and loyalty, it is with a heavy heart that I award Julieta Juris-Elion the Order of the Seven Stars Silver-class, and promote her to the rank of lieutenant commander."

Between the gathered members of the Seven Stars was a look of utter shock and surprise at the announcement. The raise in rank was understandable, but the medal itself, and Order of the Seven Stars, Silver-class, was a high honor reserved for those that had defeated multiple warships on the battlefield.

Overcoming their initial shock, McGillis, Gaelio, and Carta began to applaud the gifting of the medal, Iok jolting into action a moment later, applauding furiously along with the rest of the gathering.

Rustal stepped down then, his part in the eulogy over, allowing the next person to take the stand and say their peace. It mattered very little to him what was said, it would do him little good. He left the hall as quickly as he could.

Entering the hallways of the Lunar base, he found himself in the presence of someone he owed a great deal to. "Galan," he said upon catching sight of the former Seven Star turned mercenary.

"Rustal," he returned the greeting, "I would say that I'm sorry for your loss, but I feel more sorry for myself considering I raised her." He frowned at the man, "How could you let her go like that?"

Rustal frowned, "If you think that I don't feel for her, then - "

"Eight years," the mercenary growled, "That's how long you left her alone after you found out one of your little tramps was with child." Rustal sneered at him, "And she was happy, did you know that? She was happy with her life, low as it was, until you decided to take hand in it. Do you know how it must feel for an eight-year-old little girl to come home and find her mother brutalized and murdered?" He demanded, "And then you wouldn't let me pick her up for another year! All because you wanted her to feel beholden to us after I took her in and taught her everything I knew!"

"What more could I do?" Rustal demanded, "It would look far too suspicious if I - "

"If you what? Acted like a human being?" Galan snarled, "I knew what you were trying to do. Grooming her into your successor since you had no legitimate children, but bastard or not, you should have gone to her as soon as you found out about her instead of beating around the bush about it."

"What do you want from me, Galan?" Rustal demanded, "I know I should have done many things different with her, but the sad fact remains that she is gone!"

"And it's my fault because I let you take her from me," Galan snarled, "She was more my daughter than she was yours. You owed me so many favors back then, I should have demanded that you let me keep her as my own." He shook his head, frowning at the man, "I left my name behind to help you, but now, I want back in. I want to end this war. And if that means I have to kill that Kudelia woman, then so be it."

"Will you take your name back, Galan La Flaga?" Rustal asked, frowning "If it's revealed of your lineage, then there - "

"I don't give a damn about my name, or titles," Galan snarled, "They can rot for all I care." He swiped his hand through the space between them, "What I want is to make the bastard that took Julie from us suffer!"

Rustal sighed, "Then you'll have to wait until you see him in hell, because they both fell into the Martian atmosphere," he said, frowning, "Even if they did survive reentry, there's little hope that they survived the crash."

"Then I'll take it out on the Martian fleet," Galan growled, "That little girl was my life, and now they're going to pay for taking her away."

"They have three Gundam frames," Rustal informed him, "Unless you're willing to - "

"I have a few surprises of my own." Galan said, "You just make sure my crew and I are on the front lines when you head back to Mars."

Rustal nodded in understanding, "We'll take one week to resupply, and then it'll take another two weeks to get back into Martian territory."

"Understood."

* * *

(*)

* * *

"This is it," Orga sighed almost in relief as he made sure his traveling packs were all in place, "If you wanna stay, then just say the word."

Julieta shook her head, looking back at the village in the early morning light, "No, most definitely not," she said, sighing, "As kind as they've all been to us, we need to go."

Orga swung into the saddle, Julieta following suit, "I'm not gonna lie to you, this is gonna be a hell of a trip," he warned her, "Remember what I said about the cold nights?"

Julieta frowned at him from the back of her yayir, "How could I forget?" She asked, "You keep reminding me every time we talk about the ride back."

"Just making sure that I won't get a knife to my back when we bed down for the night." He chuckled.

Julieta huffed, "Just so long as you watch where you put your hands."

Orga laughed once more, spurring his mount forward, Julieta following behind him. It was four days to the nearest colony, and the entire trek would be a struggle to survive the blistering hot days, and freezing cold nights on the Red Planet.

Not knowing what lay ahead of them, all they could do was push forward. Behind them a village full of friends, ahead of them an unforgiving desert.

"You know," Orga smiled to himself, "we're gonna have to fight each other again."

Julieta frowned, "What about it?"

He turned to her, his right eye still bandaged up, "Just thought I should go ahead and thank you now before we're enemies again." He said, smirking, "So, thanks for lookin' out for me this whole time, good intentions or not."

"Well, I won't lie and say it was out of kindness," she said, turning her nose up at him, blushing slightly, "But, for what it's worth, thanks for pulling me out of my Graze, even though you were injured so badly. Thank you for that."

Orga chuckled, "Well," he said, imitating her voice, "I won't lie and say it was out of kindness."

"I _will_ shoot you," she promised, making him laugh harder, "Stop laughing!" She shouted, though she, too, began to smile after a moment, and began laughing along with him. "Why did we have to be on opposite sides?" She asked herself low enough that he didn't hear her.

"That reminds me," he shouted back over his shoulder, "Once we get back, I'll have to smuggle you back to your fleet." He said, "If anyone finds out your from Gjallarhorn, then it's gonna be hell explaining things without someone takin' a few shots at you."

She could understand that. It would be the same if the situation were reversed, though she had to admit that would hesitate to take such a course of action to save an enemy pilot. "What's your plan on that?"

"Well, no offense, but we could easily pass you off as a boy," he said, and she did take offense considering that she was, at the age of seventeen, highly underdeveloped. The glare she was sending his way sent shivers up his spine, "I-it's not as bad as it sounds! Besides, my brothers won't raise a fuss if I tell them I was saved by a Sehlirk wanting to join up with us. You'd even get a chance to pilot a Gundam if I didn't put you in a Moebius unit, and send you flying back to your fleet."

"I take it this Moebius you're talking about is some sort of spacecraft?" She asked, frowning, "I've never seen or heard of something like that?"

"It's sort'a like one of those old jets you'd see back in the Earth days." He said, "But it's got enough power to take off from the ground and go straight up into the atmosphere to meet up with a carrier. So it can go from ground to space within about an hour if you take it at about half-throttle."

Julieta was impressed; Gjallarhorn didn't have fighters planes like that. _{Those could pose a problem if they're ever deployed.}_ She thought, { _But he just said he'd pretty much give one to me when if I had to escape._ } "You'd trust me with something like that?"

Orga shrugged, "They're not as advanced as out Mobile Suits." He explained, "They're mainly for support, and attacking command ships directly since they're faster than a Mobile Suit bar far because they're smaller."

{ _So all they have is a speed advantage, huh?_ } She sighed, smirking to herself, { _Should've known...but still, it's amazing that he's taking such a big chance for_ _me_.}

 **.**

The Martian heat was as bad as Orga had warned her it would be. By midday, the poor Gjallarhorn pilot was already half-dead with heat exhaustion. Orga, however, seemed fine. It was no small wonder to her considering he actually lived on Mars, but did he really have to be so -

"We'll set up camp here," he called out suddenly as they came to a small cluster of large red rocks rising out of the sands. "There should be plenty of places to find shelter from the sun, and sandstorms."

"Thank God," Julieta moaned as she followed along behind him, nearly laying out over the saddle as her yayir nickered at her. "Hey, cut me some slack, I'm not used to the heat." She said to the animal.

The yayir tossed its head almost as if it was laughing at her, giving her a sudden urge to walk from that point on.

Soon, however, she was feeling kinder toward the world in general as she laid her back against the surprisingly cool stone of their shelter. "I can't believe how hot it is now." She groaned, frowning as she saw Orga making a fire pit, "What was that you said about smoke and fire attracting predators?"

"Midday like this is a no go for even the toughest of animals out here," he said simply, even a pig has to stay out of the sun because they don't sweat like most animals do. They'd literally cook themselves alive if they were out hunting right now. And the dogs are the same. Heat is the biggest enemy right now. We'll move on as it cools down in the evening, but we'll need to find shelter again as soon as the temperature hits freezing."

He went about gathering kindling from wherever he could find it, shrubs, twigs, even dried up bones from something she didn't recognize, nor did she want to judging from the size of the animal. He used a small amount of water from his canteen to make a stew from the dried ingredients in his survival gear salvaged from his Gundam. Having only one bowl, however, he allowed her to eat first. Once she finished, it was his turn.

"You know, I think I'm glad I met you," she said as he ate, making him look at her strangely, "I had no real idea about how people lived down here. I didn't even know about how things were done, yet if I hadn't fought with you, I never would've found out what I have."

"What're you gonna do now that you know some of your friends do backroom deals with pirates?" He asked, smirking at her.

Julieta frowned, "Iok Kujan is _not_ my friend, far from it," she said, resting her head against the rocks, "He's more like an irritating little child I'm forced to look after because no one else wants to put up with him."

"Ouch." Orga commented.

"Well, it's true," she defended herself, "He always goes off on his own, and even announces his presence with ' _I, Iok Kujan, have arrived,_ '!" She said, imitating a deep, haughty voice, making Orga choke on his food as he tried not to laugh at her. "It was also him that shot you in the back while we were fighting up in space two weeks ago." She said, sighing, "Then again, if it weren't for him, I doubt one of us would be here...you're a really good pilot, Orga."

"Thanks, I guess," he said, bumping his chest with his fist, "It was my first time out in a Gundam like that. I usually piloted a custom white Shiden."

Julieta's brow nearly shot off, "That was...you were...wow, if that's true, then I've heard about you from Commander Coral's men. They're calling you the ' _White Wolf'_ because of how fierce you fight."

"Flattering," he sighed, setting his bowl down and crossing his arms behind his head as he laid back on the sands. "We'll spend the rest of the day here. Once it's cooled off, we'll ride full pelt for about two hours before stopping again. The horses should be able to handle that easy enough."

Julieta nodded, and laid down as well, using her arms as a pillow while Orga seemed to doze off.

She had to have fallen asleep as soon as her eyes closed because it didn't seem long before she was being roughly shaken awake. "Wake up! We've overslept!"

Julieta blinked awake slowly, "Wh-what?" She mumbled, feeling unusually cold. "What happened?"

Orga hauled her up, pulling her toward their mounts, "No time to talk, we need to move, and I mean now!" He yelled, pushing her up into the saddle, "Pull one of the blankets around yourself so you won't freeze, and stay _right_ behind me, got it?"

Finally coming awake enough to realize what was happening, she pulled one of the hide blankest up of her saddlebags, and wrapped it around herself, "Orga, what's the rush? Couldn't we just spend the night here?"

"Not if we wanted to live," he growled, swinging up into the saddle, wincing as the action jostled his wounds, "Strain your ears a bit, and you'll hear it. We're not alone out here."

She was about to ask what he meant when she heard it; howling. Lots and lots of howling. "The dogs!"

"Here," he handed her one of his colts as he rode up to her, "It kicks like a horse, but it's better than using one of the rifles. You _can_ shoot, right?" He asked, frowning in thought.

"Yeah, I'm pretty good with a handgun." She assured him.

Orga nodded, "Alright, then let's go before they find us." He spurred his mount, and galloped ahead of her. Spurring her own mount after him, she clung to the reins, and saddle with all her strength as the animal quickly caught up with its kin, and the two rode side by side.

The shaggy Martian horses snorted and panted as they ran for what seemed like hours until Orga finally slowed them down. He'd led them to another jagged outcropping of rocks, one of which looked to have a cave large enough to house them, and their mounts. Pulling up to the cave, he pulled out a small flash light and slid down from the saddle, moving forward to check it out.

Julieta kept the gun ready in case something unwelcome was around, but soon enough, Orga returned. "It's safe," he told her, coming back out to lead his horse inside. "We can rest here until tomorrow evening. We've already covered a lot of ground tonight."

Julieta shivered as she stepped down, leading her tired mount into the cave. "Can I give them some water?"

He shook his head, "They're overheated, giving them water right now would be as cruel as leaving them to the dogs." He said as he led his mount inside and let the beast settle in for the night, noticing her shivering. "Are you alright?"

She shivered again, "Ugh, I'm frozen," she mumbled, letting go of the reins and letting her mount trot over to Orga's where the two stood side by side, sharing the other's heat. She wobbled on her feet, prompting Orga to move in and catch her as she stumbled, "Uh, I guess I'm a little more tired than I thought, too."

"Yeah, no kidding," he chuckled, leading her over to the walls of the cave, and settled down with her beside him. A moment later he opened up the blanket and slid in next her her, making her grumble in complaint, only for his warm to start spreading through her. He shifted, and had her settled between his legs, her back against his chest, and his arms wrapped around her tightly. "Go ahead and sleep, Julie, we'll be fine until the morning."

"Only Galan calls me Julie," she said sleepily, shifting herself closer to him, "But it sounds nice when you say it."

Orga couldn't help smirking as he let her rest her head against his shoulder. He closed his eyes, letting himself drift off to sleep, content that both of them were safe for the moment.

* * *

 _ **Table of Contents**_

 _Martian Wild Dog : _Unlike man's best friend on Earth, the Martian feral dog has had three hundred years to adapt and evolve into a fierce, ruthless pack hunter as the wolf once was on Earth. The creatures would be unrecognizable as dogs to Terran, given that dogs came in all shapes and sizes, but the Martian wild breed is as alien as the planet itself. Roughly around 80lbs. the Martian breed has long, thin legs built for long bursts of speed of forty miles an hour, and can run long distances for over an hour if the need called for it. Martian dogs are nocturnal hunters, and have thick wool-like fur to protect them from the freezing temperatures of the Martian nights, as well as large, yellow eyes that lack pupils.

* * *

 _ **AN:**_ Happy New Year!

In this chapter I've mixed things up a little and added a bit more of the Cosmic Era into the story by making Galan Mossa a descendant of Mu La Flaga, a pilot of both Mobile Armors, and Mobile Suits. We also see that Mars isn't the only other planet inside the system that has life. The Jupiter Empire will play a small role in this story.

Please review!


	4. Infection

_**AN:**_ Much appreciation to Locke Lynx for being the _only_ person to review the previous chapter. Anyway, I believe the lack of reviews is due to the fact that everyone reading this thing wants mechanized mayhem, and spacial combat, or at least some form of action. Never mind the fact that I wrote out Julieta as Rustal's bastard child, and that Galan is a descendant of Mu La Flaga. Oh, well...the romance hits in this chapter since it's focusing solely on the main pairing.

 _ **4: Infection**_

* * *

 _Martian Calendar: August 1st P.D. 325 - Three Weeks before Lunar fleet arrives_

* * *

Two days had passed since they journeyed into the desert. And it had been two days since they had actually moved to a new location. Having outrun the wild dogs their first night, it was only to find that a sandstorm had crept up on them during the day as they rested. And the storm raged for the entire day, well into the night as the two pilots waited it out.

Finally, when it died down, the heat had intensified tenfold, making travel out of the question. Even in their little cave, the two were sweating. The yayir were suffering as well, the two Martian horses moving deeper into the cave to try to escape the heat.

Julieta had shed her baggy leather shirt, leaving herself in only the standard black short tank that female pilots wore, while Orga was trying to tough it out, the native Martian being more used to the heat.

"Just a few more hours," he kept repeating over and over again, sweat beading his brow and face, "Just a few more hours."

Julieta cast a worried glance at the man, her eyes falling down to his side where she knew his injury was still healing. { _Is it even healing, or is it..._ } She wondered worriedly. Her worry and curiosity getting the better of her, the girl shuffled over to him. "Orga," she said, catching his attention; his eyes were tired, and sunken in with heat exhaustion, "Let me see your wound, alright?"

Orga shook his head, "I'm fine, Julieta, there's no need to..." He trailed off when the girl gave him a disbelieving look, the worry in her green eyes showing. Sighing, he lifted his arm up, and gave her access to the bandages.

Carefully, she started removing the bandages, her nose wrinkling at the smell of them. Her stomach also began to churn when she saw the wound beneath them. It was rancid!

She looked up at him, "Why didn't you say anything?!" She demanded, "Do you want to die out here?!"

Orga shook his head, "I want to go home."

Julieta huffed, and hurried to her feet, "Well, you won't make it if I don't treat this!" She said as she began rummaging through her saddlebags for her first aid kit. "I have some medical supplies that could help clear up the infection, but you can't keep things like this to yourself anymore, understand?" She said, coming back to him with her arms laden with bandages and disinfectants.

Orga frowned a little when she gently pushed him over on his right side, and produced a small brown bottle, "What's that stuff?"

"Iodine," she muttered, looking sheepish, "I'm sorry, but this is really gonna hurt."

Orga said nothing as she unscrewed the cap on the bottle. She hesitated a moment before spreading the liquid over the wound. Orga groaned loudly as the searing pain spread through his side, his hands digging into the sand. Julieta set about cleaning the wound as best she could with what she had, taking care not to cause him unnecessary pain.

His brow was dripping with sweat by now as she worked on him, finally placing a gauze pad on the wound, and securing it with bandages she had soaked in the iodine to disinfect them.

"I'm impressed," the girl commented as she put her things away, "Even grown men can hardly stand that stuff without thrashing a bit."

Orga grunted, "That was nothing compared to having my whisker put in," he said, his hand ghosting above the small, skin-covered metal protrusion on his back. Julieta grimaced in slight disgust. She knew that having an Alaya-Vjnana system implanted was normally something that couldn't be avoided on Mars, but still, the thought of those nanomachines swimming around in a person's body...

She sat herself down beside his head, looking down at the 'whisker'. Slowly, she reached out and let her fingers trail across the skin of his back just below the system. She felt him shudder under her fingers, prompting her to jerk her hand back, "I'm sorry." She said quickly, "Did I hurt you?"

Orga shook his head, "No, it's...it's just sensitive is all," he sighed as her hand returned, "It...feels kind'a nice right now."

Julieta bit her lip, removing her hand, "I can't imagine what that must've felt like."

Orga shuddered again. "They don't give you anything for the pain," he told her, making her gasp, "It took four men to hold me down while they drilled into my spine, and then injected the machines."

Bile rose in her throat, but she gulped it back down, "H-how...how old were - "

"Eight." He supplied, sensing her hesitation, "Me, and eight others went in for the surgery of our own free will," he said, recalling the time, and the screaming he'd heard, "Four were unsuccessful, but mine and the rest of them made it."

"What happened to the four that didn't work?" She asked.

"Nerve damage to the extreme, the last time I checked on them," he said, "Two are dead. One can't move his legs, and is in a wheelchair, and the other one..." he sighed, looking up at her with his lone eye, "He can't even talk anymore."

"God," Julieta shivered, "How...how could you do this - "

"I wanted to live," Orga said simply, "and to live, I needed to work, and to work I needed my whisker."

"Couldn't you have done something else?" She asked, but Orga just shook his head, "Why not?"

Orga sighed, "I don't remember my family before becoming part of the CGS," he said, "All I had was old man Yukinojo, Mika, and the others in third group." He groaned, and sat up, shifting beside her, "It was rough. We were beaten, kicked around, and made fun of all of the time we were growing up. But is wasn't all bad. We had a place to sleep. Food. A roof over our heads." He smiled down at her, "And we had each other. Me, and my brothers...everyone in Tekkadan are my family."

"You mentioned one of your brothers had multiple wives," she commented, trying to ignore the slight fluttering in her stomach. "Were you being serious?"

He chuckled, "Actually, I have two brothers like that," he said, smiling, "There's my older brother, Naze Turbine, who's got a whole ship load of wives, and children, too." He grinned at the look of utter shock on her face, "And they all love him, and he loves them."

"I find that hard to believe." She said with a slight frown.

"Believe what you want, but it's the truth," he said with a shrug, "I thought it was wild at first, too, though, but sure as hell envied him." He laid his head back against the rock wall behind him, "To be loved like that's something I've never thought possible for people like me."

She tucked her knees up against her chest, regarding him curiously, "Why would you ever think like that?"

"I'm Human Debris," he said, "Regardless of what I say or do, that's all I'll be at the end of the day." He said, "But Mika found two people that love him, and now he's about to be a dad himself. But with me? I've just never met a woman that could..." He trailed off, blushing.

Julieta frowned, "That could what?"

He sighed, knowing that what he was about to say would not end well. "That could look as beautiful to me as the first time I actually saw you."

Her breath hitched.

"When I opened that cockpit, I was fully prepared to kill you if you were still alive," he went on, refusing to look at her, "I was banged up, pissed, and I wanted payback...but when I..." he clenched his fists, "When I saw you...I just...I couldn't - "

"Stop it," she reached out and touched his shoulder, "Just...just stop it."

Orga nodded, "Yeah, sorry...should'a just let it drop."

"It's not that," she said, shaking her head, "What do we do when we get back, huh?" She asked, "I'm not quitting the fleet, and we both know that you won't stop fighting either, so what happens when we have to fight each other?"

He chuckled, giving her a small look, "I guess we stop feeling the way we feel."

She tightened her arms around her knees, { _But I don't want that._ }

"The sun's setting," he remarked, staggering to his feet, "We should get going."

She stood, grabbing up her leather shirt, and shrugged back into it while he readied the horses. "Are you...are you gonna be okay with your injury?"

He nodded, "Yeah, I'll be fine." He smiled at her over his shoulder, "We don't have much longer until we reach Chryse, I'll see a doctor then."

"Alright," she relented, still feeling uncomfortable.

Saying little else to each other, the pair rode out into the desert.

 **.**

It was several hours later before she knew something wasn't right. They had been riding for most of the night, and Orga had yet to call them to a stopping point. he was riding well ahead of her, which she thought was because he was trying to avoid her considering what he'd told her back in the cave, but now she was beginning to worry.

{ _He's leaning in the saddle,_ } she noticed, spurring her mount toward him. As she caught up to him, she saw that he was dozing off in the saddle, "Orga!" She shouted, startling him awake.

"W-what?!" Orga nearly fell out of the saddle in his haste in reaching for one of his colts.

She giggled, "Relax, it's just me," she laughed, "You were sleeping."

Orga groaned and rubbed at his eyes, "Sorry...I didn't think I'd be so tired." He said, looking around, "Jeez, we've come a long way, haven't we?" He said, looking toward a rocky passage, and grinning, "And we're in luck, I know this area!" He kicked his mount into action, "C'mon!"

"Wait, your injury!" She hollered after him, urging her mount to give chase.

Orga, however, didn't stop, urging his own horse to move all the faster as he passed through the passage and started a climb up a sandy hill. The Martian Yayir was tired, and snorted in annoyance, but kept going, because it smelled something good beyond the hill. Cresting the hill, Orga let out a loud whoop as Julieta joined him.

"What got into you?" She demanded, "You realize you could make your wounds worse riding off like that?"

Orga smiled, and gestured ahead of them, "Take a look."

Julieta frowned at him, but looked ahead of them, and gasped.

Settled in front of them was a massive farm, and in the middle of those lush green fields lay a house. "We - "

"We made it!" Orga crowed, whooping loudly as he and his mount galloped down into the little valley. "Race ya to the house!"

Giggling madly as she spurred her mount, she hurried after him, her giggles turning into full-blown laughter. Her heart was racing along with her mount's hooves as they tore after the Martian pilot, who was grinning right back at her.

They tore through the fields, and out onto a road leading up to the house, both mounts going full-throttle. Julieta laughed triumphantly as she pulled ahead of him. "Ha!"

Before she knew it, she was pulling into the yard in front of the house, "I win!" She called back, smiling widely, turning about to see his mount...but no rider. "Orga?"

She dismounted, hurrying back toward the road, "Orga?!" She called out again, beginning to panic, and ran back down the road. She spotted him, laying on the side of the road, his side rd with blood. " _Orga_!"

She pelted toward him, and skidded down on her knees next to him, rolling him over onto his back, careful not to damage his Alaya-Vjnana. "Orga? Orga! Wake up!" She cried out, smacking his cheeks lightly, "Come on, don't you dare do this to me now, you jerk! We've come all this way - "

A light shone on them, blinding her, "What in tarnation are hollering about, girl?" Asked an aged female voice, "I could hear you clear across the field!"

Julieta turned around, facing the light, letting whoever held it get a look at the young man on the ground. "Good lord, is that Orga!?" The woman yelped as the light clattered to the ground, "Come girl, grab and arm and help me get him inside!"

The girl didn't dare argue as she took hold of his left side, while the woman took the right, and dragged the unconscious man toward the house. The yayir were standing near the fence, ears down, and pawing the ground with worry.

The woman kicked the front door open, yelling, "Cookie, Cracker, wake up and get down here!" She turned to the girl, "Help me bring him into the guest room, child, we'll see to him there."

She helped the woman drag Orga into a ground-floor room where a small, unused bed lay, and hoisted him onto it, rolling him onto his right side so that his wound was facing up. "Granny?"

"What's going on?" Two small voices asked as they settled him onto the bed. She turned around to see two young, identical girls standing in the doorway, rubbing at their eyes sleepily.

"Ah, good, you're awake," their grandmother said, "I need you two to get into the kitchen and heat up some of the vegetable stock we have left over from the last harvest. Orga's just been brought in, and his in bad shape. Cookie, you tend the broth, Cracker, dear, I need you to get on the horn and give Nadi and Kudelia a call. After you've done that, get a hold of the doctor in Chryse, and have him high-tail it up here double quick."

"Okay!" The girls yelped, springing into action, and hurried off.

"What should I do?" Julieta asked, frantic.

The old woman turned to her, and gave her a small smile, "For starters, deary, you can sit down before you topple over with all that shaking you're doing right now."

"Sh-shaking?"

Suddenly, the girl felt utterly drained as she sank to her knees, her body trembling violently. "I..." Tears welled in her eyes and spilled over down her cheeks, "...I..." she looked down at her hands, which were covered in dirt, grime, and blood... _his_ blood. A sob wracked through her chest and the old woman came forward and wrapped her in her arms.

"There, there, sweetie," she said, patting her back soothingly, "You're alright now. You're both safe. You made it."

Julieta finally, after so many days in the desert, broke down, her outer shell of the Gjallarhorn pilot shattering, leaving the young seventeen year old girl in its place, shivering with relief as she cried into the older woman's shoulder.

 **.**

Dawn broke across Sakura Griffin's farmland as the doctor finished his work on both patients. Outside, Nadi, Kudelia, and Mikazuki all stood waiting for the man give them the news on their leader.

When he came out of the house, Kudelia was the first to step up, "How are they, Doctor?"

The man sighed, "The girl's going to be fine," he informed them, "She's a little sunburned, dehydrated, and slightly starved, but other than that, she'll be just fine with a few days of rest, and good nutrition." He said, frowning, "The boy, on the other hand, totally blind in his right eye, and is suffering from Septis. The wound on his side lacked the proper antibiotics to fight off the infection that set in, which then grew into a mild blood poisoning." He said, much to the growing horror of the young woman, "Fortunately, I've treated this sort of thing several times before, and had just the right medications to put him on the right track. He'll be fine in three days to a week."

Nadi sank to his metal knees, "Thank heaven," he sighed, "Merribit's gonna flip when we tell her."

"When can we see him?" Mikazuki asked.

The man shook his head, "It's better to let both of them rest, Orga especially, but the girl can be up and around in a few hours," he said, sighing, "But please, be gentle with the poor thing. She's been through quite a lot if those bruises are anything to go on. I daresay that whatever happened was enough to bruise even her bones."

"We won't trouble her for much," Kudelia promised, "We just want to know what happened to them." She said, smiling in relief now that her friend was back, safe and sound, "Where is she now?"

The doctor chuckled in amusement, "Well, Mrs. Griffin wanted to put her on the couch so she'd have a space to herself, but the little lady outright refused, and settled herself next to Orga."

Nadi brayed with laughter while Kudelia blushed crimson. "Y-you mean they're...?"

"Sleeping next to each other, nothing more." He assured her. "She seems quite attached to him. Well, ordeals such as theirs tend to bring people together." He said, moving off toward his car, "If you take him back to the base, be sure to make use of the medical nanomachine."

 **.**

Orga groaned as he began to wake, feeling weak. He cracked his remaining eye open when he felt something shift against him. A veritable birds nest of sandy-blonde hair greeted his gaze as he found Julieta sleeping against him, her arms encircling his waist. Both of them, he found, were in a bed, and covered by a thin blanket.

{ _Guess we made it_ ,} he smiled quietly, reaching up to stroke her hair. { _I just hope Granny Sakura wasn't too pissed about us showing up out of the blue like that._ }

Julieta mumbled in her sleep as he stroked her hair, coming awake a moment later, and looking up at him with a small smile. "Orga...you jerk, you scared me."

Orga chuckled, smiling, "Sorry 'bout that." He said, "You got me here, though. Thank you."

Julieta smiled and placed her cheek against his chest, "You know, I was thinking."

"Oh, yeah?"

"Mmhm," she nodded, sighing in content as she listened to his heartbeat, "I really don't think I'd mind it."

Orga looked at her curiously, "Mind what?"

She looked up at him with a smile, "Being a Martian."

Orga stiffened, "Hey, hey, think about what you're saying, Julie," he warned her, "If you stay here, Gjallarhorn's gonna find out, and probably hunt you down."

"I know how to handle myself," she reminded him, "Besides, you're the one that made me feel this way."

"How's this my fault," he asked of her, "All I've done is - "

"Shown me that life isn't all that bad here." She interrupted. She then stretched up and pecked him on the cheek, much to his surprise, "And you're the one that said...that I'm..." she began to blush. Orga smiled tiredly and started petting her hair again. She sighed and leaned into his touch, "No one make me feel more wanted than you have."

"And no one makes me feel more alive than you do," he said, setting his chin atop her head, "But you realize that if Gjallarhorn doesn't back off, Elion's the guy I'm gunning for, right?"

She looked up at him, "He's more reasonable than you may think," she said in the man's defense, "He taught me a lot while I was under his care. If it weren't for him, and Mister Mossa, I'd probably - "

"Be just like me," he finished, sighing, "Julie, you have to go back."

"Why?" She demanded, "Give me one good reason."

Orga fixed her with a hard glare, "Because I don't want you to have to fight against the people you care about." He said.

"Then I'm screwed either way, Orga Itsuka, because I've got people I care about on both sides of this stupid war!" She snapped, "I care about you, the Sehlirk that looked after us while we were with them, and I really want to meet the rest of your family that you talk so much about while we were out in the desert."

"And what about Rustal, and this Mossa guy you were talking about?" He asked, "If you pop up on our side, you'll be put in front of a firing squad if you're caught. Go back now, and they'll be none the wiser."

"I'm staying," she asserted, "And there's nothing you can do about it." She clutched at his shoulders, "You can't change my mind."

Orga couldn't help smiling at her, "You're too stubborn for your own good, ya know that?"

"Yeah, Earth girls like me never do anything the easy way."

* * *

(*)

* * *

"Where on Earth did you get such machines?" Rustal asked as he surveyed Galan La Flaga's Mobile Suit forces. The man in question just stuffed his hands into his pockets. The machines in question, were GINNs. Another relic from the Calamity War, yet these, despite being of original armaments, were brand new war machines.

"Let's just say there's a _Jovian _trader out there that owed me several favors," the man said, stepping over to a white, horned unit. "This one's mine. A real brute as far as this type of machine goes, but it'll match a Gundam, Alya-Vjnana or not."

"And they use beam weapons," Rustal noted, growing excited, "These mechanical marvels compared to today's weapons. We've lost so much since the war."

"But not our sense of irony," Galan said, looking across the hangar at the other machine, "I know I wanted them dead, Rustal, but dragging that thing out of its crypt is the worst idea you've ever had. What if it goes berserk in here because of the Ahab reactors?"

Rustal shook his head, "Not to worry," he said, looking at the bird-like machine, "I've had my best men program this old monster not to activate until it receives a remote control signal from myself. Once released, it'll only go after the machines matching the seventy-two frames of the Calamity War."

"Use it only as a last resort, Rustal, that's all that I ask," Galan pleaded, "If my forces aren't enough to push these Martians back, then you can use that monster, but not before then. Else I might just shoot you myself."

The Gjallarhorn leader nodded, "Believe me, I wouldn't wish this things on anyone but my worst enemy. Why do you think I've kept it hidden for all this time?"

"And the Dain Sleifs," Galan asked, looking toward the weapons lined against the walls of the hangar. "If McGillis or Carta get wind of those things, then - "

"It's why I've left them at the Lunar base to have those two custom machines designed for them, otherwise I'd be facing a revolt on my hands." He relented, sighing, "It's a shame that Gaelio hangs on Fareed's every word, else he'd make the perfect soldier in this war."

"Not if he saw a Hamshal in this hangar," Galan said, "Makes me glad you didn't bring him either since his Kimaris needed repairing."

* * *

 _ **Table of Contents**_

 _Jovian_ : This term is used to describe the inhabitants of the Jupiter Empire. These individuals are a rare find out in space, as they keep mostly to their own planet, those that do venture out are harsh and mistrustful towards others that are not of their own kind, as they believe in survival of the fittest, and view other races other than themselves as weaker races. They identify each other by numbers tattooed on the back of their dominant wrists, and often flash those numbers as a form of greeting to their fellow Jovians. When in the presence of a foreigner, they where gloves, and refuse to show the numbers in front of them.

* * *

 _ **AN:**_ Hopefully you'll all like this chapter better than the last one, even if it's a little short, because things are about to gear up for one hell of a fight as Galan reveals his force of GINNs, and Rustal's arsenal of Mobile Armors, and Dain Sleifs.

Please, please, please leave a review if you liked the chapter!


	5. Descent of the Hawk

_**AN**_ **:** As I said in the last chapter, the real mechanized mayhem is about to begin with Orga's return to the Martian Union of Tekkadan forces along with Julieta deciding, against all odds, to stay by his side.

 _ **5: The Battle of the Iron Flowers**_

 _ **Pt.1 - Descent of the Hawk**_

* * *

Orga sighed as he looked in the mirror, his right hand holding his trademark bang out of his face as he took in his damaged eye. He could not longer open it due to the damage, which meant that there was no chance of a natural recovery.

"You could always go in for a cybernetic implant?" Julieta suggested from beside him, taking in his look of disappointment, "Just think about it, a big, red, glowing eye that'll scare everyone into listening to you!" She said, patting his shoulder in an attempt to lighten the mood. Orga cast a disbelieving look down at her, to which she withered slightly, "Or not."

Orga sighed once more, "It's not that," he said, frowning at the girl as he crossed his arms, "I just thought that most people from Earth were disgusted by the thought of mechanical enhancements or replacements?"

Julieta shrugged, "I'm trying not to think about it," she admitted, "Really, it's already hard enough when I know most of your forces are little kids that had the Alaya-Vjnana forced on them, but you're gonna need both eyes if your intend to fight again."

He smiled at her, reaching up to pat her head as he would one of the younger kids, "Nah, I think I'll just find myself an eyepatch," he smiled as she blushed under his treatment, "Much more macho, don't you think?"

"A little," she admitted, picturing the tall Martian pilot wearing such an article. The thought brought a small blush to her cheeks when he appeared in her mind with that wolfish grin, and his red uniform with those two large pistols at his sides.

Still, Orga disliked the look of the long upside down Y-shaped scar over his eye. "I hope this won't get in the way of the battles I'll have to fight in," he sighed, touching the skin beneath the damaged eye. He looked down at the girl once more, "You're just as important to me as anyone else back home...more even."

"We've known each other for little over a month," he said, smiling a little, using his left arm to drape across her shoulders, "But really, I didn't wanna let you go back either." He admitted, making her smile at him, "You're part of my family now."

Julieta sighed, "Yeah, but do you think this is gonna go over all that well with your men?" She asked, having spent the last week recovering at the Griffon farmhouse. "I can't imagine them being thrilled about someone from Gjallarhorn being around."

"They can deal with it," he told her, giving her shoulders a squeeze, "As long as you want to be down here, then you're welcome."

She giggled and gave him a light shove, "Come on, we're supposed to head over to the base today, and check out the new ship that you're going to be captaining, Fleet Admiral Itsuka." She smiled as they returned to their shared room where their new uniforms rested.

Orga's much to his pleasure, was black and white with the marks and badges of his station in place. Julieta, as an Ensign, had a green uniform. Orga picked something up from his uniform, chuckling, "Looks like someone read my mind," he said, showing her the piece. It was an eyepatch with the red flower symbol on it that Tekkadan favored as their insignia.

He stepped out of the room to allow her to dress in her new clothes while he stepped back into the bathroom.

In the week that they had arrived at the farm, the idea that he now had a woman aside from Kudelia, Merribit, and Atra in his life had finally sank in. And she wanted to belong to him. Him of all people. { _I wonder what I did to deserve such a woman?_ } He wondered silently as he finished dressing, opening up his collar to allow himself a bit of breathing room.

Stepping out of the bathroom he found Julieta stepping out as well, smiling as she saw him, "Well, you look nice in that."

"Thanks," he smirked, "Are you ready to leave?"

"Do I get a Gundam, too?" She asked, placing her hands on her hips, "I'm not settling for a bridge crew job."

"We'll see what the old man has in store for us when we get there." He said, offering his arm to her. She smiled and looped her arm through his own as they walked out of the house.

Sakura and the twins were waiting for them on their way out, the old woman smiling at the pair, "It's going to be quiet without the two of you around," she said as the two stopped in front of them, looking at the young woman on his arm, "You be sure to keep this young rascal out of trouble, deary. He's prone to being reckless, as you well know by now."

Julieta nodded, smiling at her, "Oh, I know." She said, stepping away from the man, and wrapping the older woman in a hug, "Thank you so much for all you've done for us."

Sakura chuckled kindly, patting the girl on the back, "Think nothing of it, child," she assured her, smiling, "And don't you be a stranger. Cookie and Cracker have taken a liking to you. And it'd be nice to see you again once in a while if those young lummox doesn't keep you too busy." She gave the girl a wink which made her blush.

"Yeah, we wanna see you again, Big Sis," Cookie put in, rushing in the hug the girl around her waist.

She was soon joined by Cracker, "You gotta come back and see us again!"

Julieta giggled and patted both girls on the head, promising to come and see them again. A car arrived a few moments later as Orga was saying his own farewells, and Kudelia herself stepped out to greet them.

"You're both looking well," she commented to the budding couple, noting that Orga was wearing the eyepatch she'd picked out for him, sighing, "I'm sorry about your eye, Orga, but the doctor said that he could have an implant - "

"Maybe later," he smiled at the girl, giving her a quick hug before stepping aside to let her meet Julieta, "Now, why don't you say hello to my new wingman?"

"Wing-wo-man," Julieta corrected him with a slight jab at his uninjured side, smiling at him, and offered the Maiden of Revolution her hand. "Ensign Julieta Juris, Ma'am," she greeted her, smiling.

Kudelia smiled in return and accepted the gesture, shaking her hand firmly, "Kudelia Aina Bernstein, a pleasure to meet you." She said, stepping aside to allow them into the car, "Shall we go? Everyone's waiting to see you again Fleet Admiral."

Orga grinned at her, "Yeah, let's go home."

 **.**

Julieta found herself nervous as the car pulled into the Tekkadan base, seeing the grounds lined with Mobile Workers, and the new Gundam frames, the mass produced Strikes, and Busters. There were three full battalions of the units, each one led by one of the more infamous units, Barbatos, Gusion and Flauros.

Orga leaned over and whispered something to the blonde woman across from them, making her smile for a moment before nodding. A small hint of jealous hit the girl when she saw this, but squashed it immediately.

{ _Ease down, Julieta, Orga already told me that she's involved with the pilot of the Barbatos as well as another woman,_ } she told herself, frowning as she looked out the window and saw that the Mobile Workers weren't the only vehicles on the pad. Jet-like planes lined one side of the base, all of them large, and obviously made of high-grade _High Hardness Rare Alloy_ from the sheen of the crafts. { _I haven't seen those things before._}

The car pulled to a stop in front of a large assemble, which surprised Orga, "Where did all these troops come from?" He asked the girl.

Kudelia smiled, "The Dort Colonies," she said to the young man, "After the last battle, the colonies started another revolt when word reached them that we'd beaten Gjallarhorn back with Rustal Elion present." She said, gaining Julieta's attention, "The treatment of the work force hadn't improved since our visit there two years ago, and a large immigration from each of the colonies came in not that long ago, most of the men and women signing up to join the Martian Union as soldiers or members of the Admoss company."

"None of the little ones, I hope?" He asked, frowning, "It's bad enough that the youth group is still full of ten and twelve year olds."

"No, none of them were children," she assured him, much to his relief, "But a few of them were teenagers, and young men that didn't have families thanks to the fighting and riots going on in the colonies. So they'e no strangers to conflict."

Orga sighed, but smiled, "The next time the Earth forces come at us needs to be the last time," he said, looking at Julieta, "Whatever happens, they need to know that you don't mess with Mars without getting hurt."

Julieta nodded silently, but gave the older girl a small look of concern, "A show of force may not be enough, though," she said, "Rustal is determined to have Mars back under Earth's jurisdiction. And now that I know what I do, I have no doubt that some of the Seven Stars may resort to underhanded means."

Orga nodded, "That much I know. While we were resting, I had Eugene keeping an ear to the ground to make sure that none of the pirate syndicates are getting too friendly with Gjallarhorn." He said as the car door opened.

He stepped out, and was met by the sounds of applause when his original forces saw him, which started the new recruits up. He grinned widely as he saw Mikazuki, Akihiro, Shino, Ride and Eugene at the front.

Next to them were Naze, and Amida, both of whom were smiling at him a bit tearfully while McMurdo just grinned at the boy. The last of the group, the one that could have meant the most to him, was Nadi. The man came forward with Merribit on his arm, smiling at the boy and clouted him on the shoulder, "Welcome home, Son."

"Good to be back, Old Man." Orga grinned right back.

* * *

(*)

* * *

Above the Red Planet, a small force of two Armored Assault Ships was drifting lazily in the Martian space territory.

"This is Brooks," said a large, rotund man with a flat nose, "We're right over the base location. You ready on your side, Mossa?"

" _More than ready,_ " the voice of Galan Mossa-La Flaga said from inside his Mobile Suit. " _Remember, these brats are stronger than you think._ "

The man snorted, "I've dealt with them before, Mos," he said, "The only thing I wish is that I could ring their leader's neck myself."

Galan could understand the meaning, but for entirely different reasons. "Alright," he said over the come to his men, "grab your arms, and reentry shields. We're moving in on the planet." He said, his Mobile Suit moving to grab his shield, and assault rifle. "This is Galan Mossa, ZGMF-1017 GINN Red Custom, moving out!"

As the red GINN launched from the Assault Ship, it was soon followed by four more machines, two green variations of the GINN, and two UGY-R41 Landman Rodi frames, all of them armed to the teeth, and descended to the planet's surface.

From the Brewer's ship came five green Man Rodis, bringing the assault force to ten Mobile Suits in total under the command of the former Seven Star of Gjallarhorn.

* * *

(*)

* * *

Orga couldn't help marveling at the three warships in front of him as they were all being loaded up with the latest frames and Armors. The LMH-BB01 Minerva was a massive ship built for heavy combat, and was equipped with some frightening armaments. The cannons were impressive, as well as the missile launchers hidden beneath the armor. But what made the ship, and the two smaller ones, Archangel and Dominion, special, was the fact that each one of them had a weapon long forgotten. A bow-mounted positron cannon.

"And she's all mine," he grinned as his new Gundam was being loaded, "Hey, Old Man," he hollered to the man as the machine was slowly, and carefully put in place, "Is that the one you based the Strikes off of?"

Nadi grinned at the boy, "Sure is," he said proudly, "Found this beauty in one of those bunkers about two hundred miles out, near perfect condition," he said, handing him a data pad, "Say hello to the ZGMF-X10A Freedom, a real monster," he said smiling as Orga went over the specs, "It took a bit of doing, but we got all the weapons up and working once we installed the two Ahad reactors."

"Two small positron cannons and two railguns," he smiled looking at the devastating weapons, "Damn, Old Man, where the hell has this thing been all my life?"

"Collecting dust," he said, frowning as he noticed Julieta staring at another Mobile Suit, "Orga, you sure you should let her wander about?"

Orga glared at him, "Drop it, Yukinojo," he said, somewhat harshly, "she saved my life, remember, and she's refused to return to Gjallarhorn."

Sighing, the man smirked, "Alright, alright, I get it." He smiled, "The one she's looking at is a bit more complex. According to the data I fished out of that old bunker, that one was to be the next step in the Freedom's evolution called the Strike Freedom. It's wicked fast, and the railguns are nearly twice as powerful as the Freedom's, but we didn't have enough material to complete its beam weapons while we were getting the X10A up and running. And I'm not really sure how that stuff works. You've have to get one of the Turbines to look at it. We did get the Dragoon system up and running, as well as the propulsion system, so its on par with the Freedom in terms of speed, and the firepower's not bad either for a long-range machine."

"If the Freedom gets too heavily damaged, you can use it to complete the Strike Freedom," Orga said, smiling as the girl came strolling over to them, "In the mean time, have a Strike assigned to Julieta here, she's one hell of a pilot, and probably gonna be unstoppable with a machine like that."

Julieta smiled at him, but the large man was frowning as he checked his pad, "I just gave the last of the Strikes, and Busters over to Naze," he said, frowning, giving the girl an apologetic look, "Sorry, kiddo, but the only one we have left is the X20A, and I don't wanna send you out there with a half-built machine."

"Then she can have my X10A," Orga smiled at her, "I need to be on the bridge, so this works out well. If push comes to shove, I'll take one of those new Mobile Armors you're so proud of out, and fight with that."

Julieta looked at him in surprise, "Are you sure about that?" She asked, "I mean, the Freedom look incredible, but - " She was silenced when he reached over and patted her head again.

Nadi chuckled, knowing that he'd picked up that little habit from watching him and Merribit. "Don't try arguing with him, he's way too stubborn to risk it."

"I know that," she smiled warmly, her cheeks burning.

Orga chuckled lightly when the alarm started blaring overhead, "What the -?!"

"We're being attacked!" Nadi scowled, looking at the young Admiral, "What's the plan, Orga?!"

Orga growled, then started grinning viciously, "Scramble all available Mobile Suits that haven't been assigned to the warships, and get them situated around the base. have Mobile Armor pilots in the air on the double! No close-range shots, and tell them to stay well out of firing range." He called out and started barking out orders to the others. "Someone get these birds in the air! Ride, you go up with Kudelia in the Minerva! Find Mika and tell him to get into orbit, and find out where those damned invaders are coming from!"

Julieta watched in bemusement as the pilots started moving about like mad to get everything ready for the oncoming attack. She looked at the mechanic, "How many are coming?" She asked, "And how long until they get here?"

"Ten, and not long," he said, checking the incoming data, turning about, "Hey, Yamagi! Find a Strike and get it ready for Orga!" He roared to his assistant, then looked back at the man, "You're fighting, right?"

Orga grinned at him, "Damned right I am."

 **.**

As predicted, ten large, bulky machines landed in the base's territory. Orga sat in the cockpit of his Strike, shield and assault rifle in hand, but he could already tell that they wouldn't be enough to deal with these machines. Seven of them he recognized as the Rodi frames, but three others were totally new to him as two green units and one red unit out front glared across the field.

" _Orga, those three weird ones, they're in the system under the code GINN._ " Nadi's voice crackled over the com, " _These things were CE Mobile Suits, and pretty damned quick despite their bulk, keep your guard up._ "

"Right," he said, looking to his sides as nine machines of his own alighted beside him. "Hush, you be careful now, these guys mean business. Azee, Lafter, thanks for coming out here."

" _Don't you worry about us, Orga,_ " Azee said, smirking over the link.

" _Yeah, I totally owe you an ass-kicking for scaring me like you did, you jerk!_ " Lafter giggled from her Buster, licking her lips, " _And these guys look like just what I need to vent a little rage on._ "

Across the field, Galan was surveying the ten Mobile Suits in front of him, "So this is what Rustal's been dealing with," he said, looking at the lead machine, smirking, "Alright, ya Gundam frame knock-offs, time for a little payback for my girl!"

The Red GINN rocketed forward in a burst of speed that caught Orga by surprise before his instincts kicked in and the Strike shot forward, the rifle blazing. The GINN raised a shield of its own, hefting an ax from its back. Orga holstered his weapon in favor of his unit's long sword, forcing him to discard his shield at the last moment as their blades met in a shower of sparks.

Galan was surprised when his machine was steadily pushed back by the smaller Gundam frame, "Well, well, now!" He grinned, speaking over the com, "Just what the hell do we have here?!"

A face appeared on the monitor, the last face he expected to see, and one that made his blood boil as the scarred face of Orga Itsuka appeared on the monitor, "The name's Orga Itsuka, you Brewer trash!"

Rage bubbled up in the former Gjallarhorn pilot's chest as he pressed his attack, "Take these Space Rats down!"

" _Yes, Sir!_ "

Orga growled in response, "All forces attack!"

" _Right!_ "

The red GINN kicked his Gundam in the chest, and bore down on him with its ax, easily blocked by the larger blade of the long sword, but the GINN was quicker in its movements as the blade flashed across the Strike's abdomen, scraping across the armor.

As the forces engaged each other, Galan took note of a force of air crafts zooming in on them. { _Shit,_ } He broke away from the Strike, and fired off his vulcans, clipping one of the crafts' wings, sending it spiraling away from the fight.

Orga took the chance and slammed his machine's shoulder into the GINN, sending both of them crashing to the ground before his was up again using his boosters to get some distance between himself and the attacking force.

 **.**

Kudelia and Julieta boarded the Minerva with hesitation, but Mikazuki was quick to give the girls a good shove in his haste to get them on board so he could get to his Barbatos, "I don't like leaving Orga out there any more than you guys do, but he told us to get these ships in the air and into space to take care of the ones sending these assholes after us."

"I know, I know, but still, Mika!" Kudelia yelped as she nearly stumbled when came face to face with McMurdo, "Oh, I'm sorry Mr. Barriston!"

"That's alright, my dear, but you should really get to the bridge," he informed her, "We're counting on you to guide us out of here."

"Right," the girl frowned.

"Where should I be?" Julieta asked.

Mikazuki took hold over her sleeve, "This way to the hangar," he told her, "Your Gundam's been loaded, right?"

"Y-Yeah, but - "

"Then go, and wait for orders," he told her, giving her a shove in the right direction, "I need to get to Barbatos, too."

"Akihiro's with Eugene and the Archangel, right?" Kudelia asked.

"Yeah, and Shino's over on the Dominion with Naze and the girls," he told her as he ran down the halls, "See you later!"

Kudelia shook herself and headed for the bridge.

 **.**

On the Archangel, Eugene was doing a systems check as Chad and Dante took up their positions alongside the rest of the bridge crew. "Alright, we're first in line, so let's get this show on the road, and get our asses up and out!" He told his crew, "Have the missiles ready to fire as soon as possible! We might be in for a firefight as soon as we're in the air, and have Akirhiro get the Gusion ready to go!"

 **.**

The Dominion was abuzz with activity as the Turbine family set to work with practiced ease getting the ship ready to launch. Naze had to smile as his girls got to work, "Gotta hand it to our adorable little brother," he said to Amida, who stood at his side, "This ship is one hell of a beast."

"Just like the rest of us, my dear," she smirked, looking down at Eco, "How long until we're out of here?"

"Eugene's launchin in T-minus three minutes." She said, "We're all ready and waiting on our end, but we have a thirty-second wait before we can launch after the Archangel!"

"Pretty tight," Naze said to himself, "How are Lafter and Azee doing out there?"

A screen displayed the battle taking place outside, showing Lafter's pink Buster, and Azee's dark blue Strike. The two units were doing well against the invading forces as he watched Azee stab one of the Rodi frames with her combat knife right through the cockpit while Lafter blasted another's head off, rendering it useless.

"They're doing pretty good," he smiled, looking for Orga's unit, and saw it being pushed back by the red unit on the field, "Brother doesn't look like he's doing all that well. Bilt, see if the girls can help him out?"

"Negative, they're currently engaged with the two other horned units." The dark-skinned girl said, "What about having Big Sis go out? The catapults are still free."

"Good idea," Amida nodded, heading out of the bridge, "We have one minute before launch time. Have the main guns primed and ready to fire on those Rodis." She told her sisters. "What's my unit called again?"

"It's the Lightning Strike, Ma'am," Eva spoke up, "The unit with the segmented railgun attached."

Amida smiled as the door closed behind, "Well, now, won't this be fun?"

* * *

 _ **AN:**_ Galan's forces have moved in, and things are looking even between the two sides as one fights to save their unit, while the other is out for blood, not even knowing the object of their feud is minutes away from taking flight in Tekkadan's new warships.

Here's what I wanna hear from ya'll if you're gonna review. Julieta's Gundam, should it remain as the Freedom, or should she have another and let Orga take the machine when the time comes?

Please review!


End file.
